In the Cabinet Room Wednesday and in a Fox Business Network interview aired Thursday, President Donald Trump is finally airing publicly the complaints about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert who has served six presidents, that officials say he’s been airing privately for weeks.
Why now?
Officials are pointing to a few factors.
One, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that reopening the country is Trump’s only plan for reviving the economy. The new stimulus package is, as Trump accurately declared, dead on arrival. The Federal Reserve is low on options. The White House has now essentially bet everything that states loosening restrictions will spur growth in time for November’s election. Fauci’s words of caution are an obstacle at a moment when the economic outlook is grim.
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Two, Fauci’s critics on Fox and in Congress are adjusting their complaints about him to reflect the type of criticism they know appeals to Trump. By casting him as an unelected bureaucrat who is attempting to undermine Trump, they’re harkening back to the “deep state” conspiracies that have fueled Trump countless times before, most recently during impeachment and even concurrently with the events surrounding the Michael Flynn case.
And third, Trump is frustrated that Fauci is eclipsing him in surveys on public trust, most recently the CNN/SSRS poll this week. Officials say Trump has long held out some resentment that Fauci is respected and liked by people he has struggled to convert.
Fauci said Tuesday his relationship with Trump is not contentious, and Trump has insisted as much previously. In person, officials say this is mostly accurate. They haven’t engaged in huge shouting matches or sniping. But Trump’s irritation at being publicly undermined has been evident in conversations with his friends and aides, when he’s complained that Fauci doesn’t seem to be on his side.
Out of sight?
Fauci and Trump have not seen each other in person this week and their contact has become less frequent with coronavirus task force meetings occurring more sporadically.
Fauci also hasn’t appeared at press briefings with the President in recent weeks. And unlike Dr. Deborah Birx, who has office space in the West Wing, Fauci spends most of his time at the National Institutes of Health.
So does this mean Trump will try to fire Fauci?
Probably not, principally because doing so is all but impossible given Fauci’s status as a career federal employee. It would require Trump instructing Fauci’s direct boss (Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar) to fire him for cause, of which there isn’t really one.
What’s more likely, officials say, is a continuation of what has already been happening for the last two weeks: a gradual sidelining of Fauci from public appearances at the White House and a continued disregard for the advice he offers the President.
Would the White House look to stop Fauci’s TV time?
It’s possible the White House attempts again to limit Fauci’s television appearances, but aides seemed to recognize last time that went poorly.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
