He acknowledged the virus as existing but not as a threat people should be concerned over. He consistently presented the problem publicly as something minimal countermeasures could deal with. Because he presented the issue this way, many Americans didn't take safeguards they would have taken had he simply said what he said in the Woodward interview to everyone.
I don't know what Trump was doing in February-March other than saying the virus would just disappear, like a miracle or whatnot. What did he do during those months?