U.S. lawmakers

“How do we know” if they are accurate, Trump asked at a press conference. “Their numbers seem to be a little bit on the light side.”

Trump insisted that “the relationship with China’s a good one” and that he remained close to President Xi Jinping.

However, controversy around Beijing’s transparency has strained ties, adding to bad feelings triggered by a conspiracy theory in China that the US military was to blame for the virus.