White House claims it didn't approve Peter Navarro op-ed trashing Fauci

The views expressed by Peter Navarro do not necessarily reflect the views of the White House, the White House is now insisting.

Navarro, President Trump's trade adviser, on Tuesday wrote a brutal op-ed in USA Today trashing Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, accusing him of being "wrong about everything I have interacted with him on." This was the latest attack on Fauci by White House officials in recent days, but on Wednesday, the White House began telling reporters they didn't sign off on the op-ed.

"Navarro went rogue, and put out his personal opinion without any approvals," a senior official told ABC News' Katherine Faulders. "The White House does not stand by these unauthorized opinions and Mr. Navarro owes Dr. Fauci an apology."

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Soon enough, White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah tweeted a similar statement, saying Navarro's piece "didn't go through normal White House clearance processes" and is just his personal opinion. Farah added that Trump "values the expertise of the medical professionals advising his administration," though she didn't call for an apology.

Still, Navarro's op-ed wasn't a one-off. Recently, the White House sent reporters what was effectively opposition research against Fauci listing instances in which he's been wrong, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino posted a cartoon on social media mocking Fauci. Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore also told The Daily Beast about his plans to "go after Fauci."

Fauci in a recent interview revealed he hasn't briefed Trump on COVID-19 in two months and speculated he's being kept off television partially because of his reputation for "speaking the truth at all times and not sugar-coating things."