Trump says 'we've done too good a job' on coronavirus testing as new cases spike across the country

• President Donald Trump described the US as doing "too good a job" on coronavirus testing during an interview for Scripps local TV stations.
• Trump was asked if he actually told White House aides to "slow down" coronavirus testing, which he claimed during his rally on Saturday.
• The Trump campaign has said the president was only joking.
• "If it did slow down, frankly, I think we're way ahead of ourselves, to tell you the truth," Trump told the Scripps reporter, avoiding a direct answer to his question.
• Coronavirus cases are spiking across the country in 23 states, with several states breaking their records for new cases in recent days. Deaths have now surpassed 120,000.

President Donald Trump claimed the US is doing "too good a job" on coronavirus testing during an interview on Monday.

In an interview with Scripps for its local TV stations, Trump was asked whether he actually told White House aides to "slow down" coronavirus testing, as he claimed during his riff at Saturday's MAGA rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"If it did slow down, frankly, I think we're way ahead of ourselves, to tell you the truth," Trump said on Monday. "We've done too good a job.

—Joe St. George (@JoeStGeorge) June 22, 2020

"Because every time we go out, with 25 million tests, you're gonna find more people," Trump continued, avoiding answering the question directly. "So then they say, 'Oh, we have more cases in the United States' — the reason we have more cases, because we do more testing than any other country by far."

Following Trump's comments at the rally — where he said, "So I said to my people, 'slow down the testing please!'" — a White House official told Reuters that the president was joking.

Following Memorial Day, cases have been spiking in several states, particularly in the Sun Belt and some southern and western states.

Last week, six states saw record single-day increases in COVID-19 confirmed cases, with 23 currently undergoing an increase in new cases.

Florida broke its record for new cases seven times in a 10 day stretch, with more than 4,000 reported on Friday.

Arizona, where Trump plans on heading tomorrow for an official event, is seeing one of the steepest outbreaks in the country.

Eschewing skepticism over COVID-19 testing is nothing new for Trump.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week, the president called testing "overrated" and said that it makes the US "look bad."