President Donald Trump expressed surprise as Hurricane Dorian slammed the Bahamas on Sunday and approached the U.S. East Coast on Sunday, hours after being updated to a Category Five storm.

"I'm not sure that I've ever even heard of a Category 5," Trump said during a televised briefing at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington.

"I've seen some Category 4s, you don't even see them that much," he said. "But a Category 5 is something that, I don't know if I've ever even heard the term, other than I know it's there. That's the ultimate and that's what we have, unfortunately."