(CNN) - Amid reports of growing tension between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro slammed the top health agency on Sunday, saying "it let the country down" on testing.

"Early on in this crisis, the CDC, which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space -- really let the country down with the testing. Not only did they keep the testing within the bureaucracy they had a bad test and that set us back," Navarro said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Navarro's critique is the most critical an administration official has been willing to be on-the-record in blaming the CDC for the faulty testing at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

A senior official from the CDC on Sunday expressed anger and frustration in reaction to Navarro's scathing criticism of the agency's Covid-19 testing response.