President Donald Trump cast doubt Thursday on the official coronavirus numbers coming out of China.
“You don’t know what the numbers are in China,” Trump said to reporters during the White House press briefing on Thursday evening.
Trump was asked by a reporter to respond to the news that the United States was on track to have more cases of the virus than China.
The president said that the high number of cases in the United States was a sign of success at speeding up testing for the virus.
“I’m sure you’re not able to tell what China is testing or not testing. I think that’s a little hard,” Trump said.
Trump revealed he was expecting to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a phone call Thursday night about the virus.
When asked why he stopped calling the coronavirus virus a “Chinese virus,” he said that he no longer needed to repeat it as often.
“I talk about the Chinese virus, and I mean it, that’s where it came from … this was a Chinese virus,” he said. “But I don’t have to say it if they feel so strongly about it. We’ll see.”
Trump acknowledged that China would probably love to see him lose the 2020 election to former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Would they love to negotiate with Biden or somebody else other than me? They would love it; that’s their best dream in the world,” Trump said.