The remark was amid a press conference on the COVID19 pandemic. When asking reporters if there were any questions for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump said, “I’d like him to go back to the State Department, or as they call it, the Deep State department – if you don’t mind – I’d lie to have him go back and do his job.”

The deep state is a conspiracy theory Trump has commonly employed, which references a secret cabal within the government.

It prompted an incredulous reaction from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The Washington Post – Trump makes ‘Deep State Department’ joke
Wikipedia – Deep state in the United States