Trump downplays rift with Fauci

President Donald Trump on Monday said he had a “good relationship” with Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, despite evidence of a growing rift between the two men as coronavirus cases surge in several states.

“I get along with him very well,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House. “I like him, personally.”

The conciliatory tone was a notable shift after White House officials over the weekend circulated to reporters a dossier of guidance Fauci had made early in the pandemic that was subsequently reversed.

That effort came after Trump publicly criticized Fauci in a pair of television interviews, and an interview published last weekend by the Financial Times in which Fauci said he had not briefed the president in more than two months, and hadn’t seen him in person at the White House since early June.

Evidence of continued friction was still apparent Monday, with Trump noting he disagreed with Fauci over the decision to cut off certain travel from China — a decision the president said saved tens of thousands of lives. And White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany described Fauci as one of many public health officials — who she said offered “varying opinions sometimes” — providing guidance to the president.

But McEnany denied the White House was working to discredit Fauci, and described the catalogue of perceived missteps by the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as a routine answer to questions posed by reporters for The Washington Post.

“We provided a direct response to a direct question, and that’s about it,” McEnany said.