I honestly didn't believe he said that, initially. Surely he wouldn't say something like that. But he did. I mean, it's possible he was trying to say "Of course numbers are going up, we're testing more and more. If we didn't test the cases wouldn't increase the way they are". But he's just done an absolutely awful job of conveying his thoughts? God that almost sounded like I defended him but I really want to know how that lil tumbleweed thinks.
The way to frame everything Trump says is "does this get a reaction in the moment?" If you think of things in terms of "does this sound like a policy statement from a world leader?" you will never grasp the man. It's entirely about immediate, quantifiable reaction in the moment. And, since he is never held accountable for anything that he says, he has no reason to approach any public appearance using any metric other than what causes him immediate, quantifiable gratification.