Donald Trump has defended his management of the coronavirus crisis in a breathtaking new interview in which he insisted his administration has done an ‘incredible job’.

In a number of startling exchanges with AXIOS interviewer Jonathan Swan, the US president insisted America was fairing better than nations such as Germany and South Korea in a number of measures.

And in a confusing statement the 74-year-old also claimed one of the reasons the US appeared to be suffering worse than others was because they were ‘testing too much’.

"The United States is lowest in numerous categories. We’re lower than the world. Lower than Europe," he said.

Trump attempted to defend his handling of the pandemic by measuring the number of deaths by the proportion of cases as oppose to the proportion of the population.

Swan then asked Trump to turn his attention back to the number of cases in relation to the population, to which the president responded: "You can’t do that. You have to go by, you have to go by – look. Here is the United States – you have to go by the cases. The cases of death."

Trump then went on to suggest the US’ increased testing is one of the reasons the country’s figures look worse in comparison.

"You know, there are those that say you can test too much. You do know that," he said.

When asked who says that, he then added: "Oh, just read the manuals. Read the books. Other countries test – you know when they test? They test when somebody’s sick. That’s when they test. And I’m not saying they’re right or wrong. Nobody’s done it like we’ve done it. We’ve got absolutely no credit for it. But we’ve come up with so many tests. The only thing we have now is, some people have to wait longer than we’d like them to."

The president then proceeded to brandish a chart which he claimed to show the US to have faired better than Germany and South Korea during the pandemic.

Swan then quashed the argument by stating that South Korea had suffered just 300 deaths, to which Trump said: "You don’t know that."

Swan then quizzed Trump on whether he was suggesting the statistics are untrue, to which he responded: "I won’t get into that."

The number of COVID-19 cases in the US is rapidly approaching five million, nearly twice as many as any other country in the world.

And the death toll in the USA currently stands at almost 158,931, 64,000 more than the next worst-hit country Brazil.

Trump expanded on the US’ testing programme and why he believes they are trending so much worse than other countries.

He said: "Many of those tests are now obsolete, because you know, it’s called science, and all of a sudden something’s better. But because we tested so many people, 55-60 million people, very soon, we get cases. You test, some kid has even just a little runny nose, it’s a case. And then you report many cases. So we look like we have more cases than massive countries, like China – which by the way, doesn’t report, as you know.

"The point is, because we are so much better at testing than any other country in the world, we show more cases."

In a combative manner, the president also insisted the US would ‘never forget’ that China ‘sent’ the virus to them.

And Trump also described America’s economy prior to the pandemic as ‘the greatest ever in history’.

Trump was slammed on Twitter for his inaccuracies around the coronavirus pandemic.

One person said: "I’d highly encourage everyone with HBO to watch this interview because...wow. This is the most embarrassing interview of Trump’s entire term. It’s a declining ignoramus flailing as the interviewer calmly skewers him on every topic."

Another added: "Jonathan Swan really does an excellent job in this interview. He didn't allow Trump to steamroll him, continually peppered him with questions and follow-ups, and gave Trump enough rope to hang himself. Trump, meanwhile, comes across as completely flailing and desperate."

Following the debate around the pandemic, Trump also commented on John Lewis, the late civil rights leader who passed away last month.

Trump said: "He didn't come to my inauguration. He didn't come to my State of the Union speeches. And that's OK. That's his right.

"And, again, nobody has done more for Black Americans than I have."