Trump says U.S. coronavirus 'death totals' per million people 'are really very, very strong'


South Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand, even Vietnam have largely snuffed out new cases of COVID-19 in their countries. The number of new cases may have peaked for now in the U.S., but death and infection numbers keep rising — 1.07 million cases, 63,000 deaths as of late Thursday — and new outbreaks keep popping up.
Still, President Trump's White House adviser and son in law, Jared Kushner, declared victory on Wednesday. "We're on the other side of the medical aspect of this, and I think we've achieved all the different milestones that are needed," he told Fox & Friends. "So the federal government rose to the challenge and this is a great success story." Trump also patted his administration on the back during a White House event on aiding seniors during the pandemic: "Our death totals, our numbers per million people, are really very, very strong. We're very proud of the job we've done."
It's hard to quantify "really very, very strong," but the U.S. has the highest number of total reported deaths in the world and is middling at best in terms of deaths per million people.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"We've been hearing similar rhetoric from the White House for a while," Philip Bump writes at The Washington Post. But "the back of the mountain doesn't look the way the front did. We saw a steady, exponential rise in confirmed cases and deaths each day for several weeks. But particularly with daily case totals, the period after the peak nationally has looked more like a plateau than a downward slide."
There's method to moving to the recovery phase, at least rhetorically. "When it comes to rebuilding the economy and getting people back to work, the president has significant advantages over Joe Biden right now," one adviser to the Trump campaign tells Politico. "If there's a sense we've recovered from this, and there's a sense the economy's getting better, he'll be okay."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imagination
Feature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?
Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacy
Feature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants