Trump claims U.S. has 'prevailed' on coronavirus testing as death toll passes 80,000

President Trump during a press briefing on Monday claimed the United States has "prevailed" on COVID-19 testing, even as experts say far more tests must be conducted daily.

Trump during a briefing on Monday afternoon said the U.S. is conducting about 300,000 coronavirus tests a day and promised that "it will go up substantially from that number." He also announced that $11 billion from the CARES Act is headed to states for testing.

"In every generation, through every challenge and hardship and danger, America has risen to the task," Trump said. "We have met the moment, and we have prevailed."

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Asked later to clarify if he was suggesting that America has "prevailed" in the coronavirus pandemic even as the death toll on Monday passed 80,000, Trump said "you never prevail when you have" 80,000 deaths but then proceeded to claim the U.S. has, in fact, prevailed when it comes to testing.

"We've prevailed on testing, is what I'm referring to," Trump said. "We have prevailed. We have the best equipment anywhere in the world."

But experts have said the U.S. needs to ramp up its coronavirus testing much further, with Harvard's Global Health Institute saying the U.S. should be conducting more than 900,000 tests per day. Brendan Morrow