The Daily Beast reports President Trump is pressuring officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change their COVID-19 death toll methodology in order to produce a lower figure. Trump’s push directly contradicts the views of Trump’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who told Congress on Tuesday the death toll is likely higher than an official tally kept by Johns Hopkins researchers — now at more than 84,000 U.S. deaths.

Dr. Anthony Fauci: “Most of us feel that the number of deaths are likely higher than that number.”

On Wednesday, President Trump criticized Dr. Fauci over his congressional testimony, questioning Fauci’s assertion that schoolchildren might not be safe returning to classrooms in the fall.

President Donald Trump: “Look, he wants to play all sides of the equation. … Well, I was surprised — I was surprised by his answer, actually, because, you know, it’s just — to me, it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.”