Tony's Diary Package — page 133

White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere was more direct, telling NBC News that "despite the media's ridiculous efforts to somehow create distance between the president and his top health experts, it is simply fake news." "President Trump has relied on and consulted with Dr. Adams, Dr. Birx, Dr. Fauci, Dr. Hahn, Dr. Redfield, and many others," Deere added, "as he has confronted this unforeseen, unprecedented crisis and put the full power of the federal government to work to slow the spread, save lives, and place this great country on a data-driven path to opening up again." The most recent example of discord came on Thursday when an interview with "TIME" revealed the doctor had a dismal view of the country's testing capability. "We absolutely need to significantly ramp up, not only the number of tests but the capacity to actually perform them," Fauci said. "I am not overly confident right now at all that we have what it takes to do that." When asked later in the day if he agreed with Fauci, the president said: "I don't agree with him on that, no, I think we're doing a great job on testing." On Wednesday, the only day Fauci joined for the briefing this week, he refuted the president's assertion that coronavirus "may not come back at all" this year and, if it does, it would just be "embers" or "pockets." Minutes later, Fauci took to the lectern to state definitively: "We will have coronavirus in the fall. I am convinced of that." While Fauci has appeared on most Sunday shows through March and April, he did not appear last weekend and is not currently slated to be on any of the political programs in the coming days. Given Fauci's absence from the briefings this week, several of the president's aides and allies have started to wonder what it means about their relationship. Officials close to the task force, however, insist Fauci's role is seen as critical to the pandemic response and maintain his job is safe. And, the decision to skip the briefings may be Fauci's own, given that he called the sometimes two-hour, marathon events "really draining" recently. Aides also said Fauci is a regular attendee at the closed-door meetings that often take place right before the televised pressers. Experts agree Fauci's storied career in the industry means he seeks little praise and doesn't need the president's approval to perform his duties. "If you're somebody who aspires to have impact in public health as a physician or provider, you should look no further than Dr. Fauci or Dr. Birx, which spans administrations," said Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and global health policy expert