Washington's response to COVID-19 has sparked a number of controversies, including a questionable early development of a vaccine for coronavirus, and the U.S. CDC's role having been sidelined by the Trump administration. According to U.S. news website The Daily Beast, Trump, along with the White House's coronavirus task force, put pressure on the CDC to change its methodology of calculating death toll. Several White House staff members say such a change could cut the U.S. death toll significantly.