Trump reportedly 'authorized' and 'encouraged' adviser Peter Navarro's anti-Fauci op-ed, despite denials


The White House launched a coordinated campaign last weekend to undermine Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and it doesn't appear to have gone well. Key Trump allies in Congress quickly defended Fauci, and by Wednesday, when the White House wanted to be talking about unilaterally weakening environmental laws, it spent much of the day trying to disavow an op-ed in which Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro savaged Fauci.
White House officials, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, insisted Trump did not approve the op-ed, and Vice President Mike Pence tweeted a photo of himself sitting next to Fauci at at coronavirus task force meeting. Trump himself said "we're all on the same team, including Dr. Fauci," and Navarro "shouldn't be doing that." Fauci told The Atlantic he was baffled by the "bizarre" White House attacks on him, adding: "I can't explain Peter Navarro. He's in a world by himself."
"But there's little doubt that Navarro's broadside reflected — and appealed to — the president's own frustration with Fauci," the Los Angeles Times reports, quoting an administration official who said of Navarro's op-ed, "not only was he authorized by Trump, he was encouraged." Meadows pushed back, telling the Times that "President Trump did not approve Peter Navarro's op-ed" and "this anonymous source is providing false information" to "deceive your readers."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Meadows is genuinely unhappy with Navarro, White House officials told The Washington Post, especially since the White House had denied Navarro's request to publish the op-ed. At the same time, the Post notes, "Navarro's op-ed in some way echoed Trump's comments during a Fox News interview last week."
That the White House is attacking its own top infectious disease expert has already entered the zeitgeist. The Late Show and The Daily Show both created mock Fauci attack ads, and the anti-Trump Lincoln Project released an earnest ad Wednesday to pointedly remind voters that Fauci has been working to save America under six presidents.
"One White House official said the administration was attempting to de-escalate the situation with Fauci in the days ahead, a tacit admission that efforts to tarnish his credibility had backfired," the Post reports. "But both allies and critics of the Trump administration fear the White House's attempts to move on from ill-advised attacks against an epidemiologist during a pandemic could be upended with a presidential tweet."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media