New York Times: Fauci Defends Trump, Who Says He Has No Plans to Dismiss Him
“Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the leading public health expert on President Trump’s coronavirus task force, sought on Monday to smooth over a growing rift with the president, taking the podium during the task force’s daily briefing to defend Mr. Trump, who has been enraged by reports that he was warned about the potential for a pandemic but oversaw a halting response. Dr. Fauci said the president approved social distancing measures the first time they were recommended to him. ‘The first and only time that Dr. Birx and I formally made a recommendation to the president’ to put in place strong mitigation measures, he said, referring to Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator, ‘the president listened and went to the mitigation.’ Mr. Trump, who on Sunday reposted a message on Twitter saying, ‘Time to #FireFauci,’ stood at his side…” (Karni, 4/13).

Washington Post: White House denies Trump is considering firing Fauci despite his retweet of a hashtag calling for his ouster
“The White House denied Monday that President Trump is considering firing the nation’s top infectious-disease specialist, Anthony S. Fauci, after Trump retweeted a message Sunday night that included the hashtag ‘FireFauci’ amid a flurry of Twitter activity responding to criticism of the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak. ‘This media chatter is ridiculous — President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci,’ White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement. ‘Dr. Fauci has been and remains a trusted adviser to President Trump’…” (Shepherd et al., 4/13).

Additional coverage of Fauci’s relationship with Trump and career is available from the New Yorker.