Trump reportedly thinks coronavirus deaths are overcounted. Experts say the opposite.


A senior Trump administration official told Axios he expects President Trump to begin publicly questioning the coronavirus death toll in the United States.
Experts mostly agree the data isn't accurate, but for the opposite reason — the consensus is that deaths are being undercounted, while the official said Trump and some of his aides think the numbers are inflated. There's no evidence the number of fatalities has been exaggerated, but Axios reports Trump wasn't pleased when New York added 3,000 unconfirmed but suspected COVID-19 cases to its tally.
Some on the Trump team reportedly believe hospitals have a financial incentive to identify coronavirus cases since Medicare gives them a 20 percent bonus for COVID-19 treatment, Axios reports. It's unclear if Trump shares this view, and no one in the administration has publicly accused hospitals of misdiagnosing patients.
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.
Other officials told Axios that Trump doesn't think the numbers are fraudulent, but that the lack of "uniform reporting standards in the United States" means the data is murky. That may be true, but again the question among most experts is about how many coronavirus deaths have been missed due to lack of testing, rather than added unnecessarily. Read more at Axios.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
President Trump: ‘waging war’ on Chicago
Talking Point Federal agents are carrying out ‘increasingly aggressive’ immigration raids – but have sanctuary cities like Chicago brought it on themselves?
-
Crossword: October 18, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku hard: October 18, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified files
Speed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DC
Speed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operations
Speed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rules
Speed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Act
speed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in Venezuela
Speed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young Republicans
Speed Read Leaders of Young Republican groups made racist, antisemitic and violent comments in private chats
-
Trump ties $20B Argentina bailout to Milei votes
speed read Trump will boost Argentina’s economy — if the country’s right-wing president wins upcoming elections