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A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.

The Trump administration can’t get its story straight on much these days. On Monday, reporters were treated to contradictory statements from President Trump and senior administration officials on a range of topics: From Trump’s comments on coronavirus testing to the firing of US attorney Geoffrey Berman to the China trade deal, the White House struggled to offer a consistent message on issues of significant importance.

The day started with continued explanations from the White House as to why Trump said at his Tulsa rally that he had asked for coronavirus testing to be slow down. After the White House said Trump made the remarks “in jest,” Mike Pence reportedly said on a Monday call with governors that the comments were a “passing observation” from the President. Meanwhile, Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that “any suggestion that testing has been curtailed is not rooted in fact.”

But when asked about the remark by Scripps’ Joe St. George, Trump himself went on his own tangent, saying, “If it did slow down, frankly, I think we’re way ahead of ourselves, if you want to know the truth.” The differing set of messages from the President, VP, and press secretary spawned this Politico headline: “White House delivers mixed explanations on Trump’s vow to slow down testing.”

The confused messaging wasn’t just limited to that particular issue. You’ll remember, Trump initially said he was “not involved” in the abrupt firing of Berman. “That’s [Attorney General Bill Barr’s] department, not my department,” Trump said Saturday. But, under questioning from Kaitlan Collins on Monday, McEnany conceded the President did in fact have some involvement. The new messaging? That Trump was “involved in a sign-off capacity” after Berman refused to step down.

Capping off the day was more mixed messaging — this time on the China trade deal. In an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, trade advisor Peter Navarro was asked point blank whether the trade deal is over. “It’s over, yes,” Navarro replied, sending the markets diving. Soon after, however, he claimed news orgs had taken him “wildly out of context” (they hadn’t). Larry Kudlow told Axios reporter Jonathan Swan that the deal remains. And Trump himself tweeted, “The China Trade Deal is fully intact.”

WaPo’s Josh Dawsey and Jeff Stein summed it up like this: “Trump took to Twitter late Monday to try and quell an international incident caused by one of his aides just hours earlier as White House officials struggle to convey a consistent China strategy.”

The inability of the White House to put forth a uniform set of messages on such consequential matters is alarming — and it is yet another factor that continues to call into question the White House’s credibility in a serious way. These are topics the administration should be fully prepared to address. Top officials should not struggle to answer basic questions on stories receiving top billing in the news media. And yet, the President and his senior officials continue to trip over each others words.