On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service

by Anthony Fauci

During all of this, the president often mixed his messages. I remember him telling me two weeks into the thirty-day period, in mid-April, “Anthony, we’ll listen to you and go with the full thirty days. I know it’s risky with the economy, but let’s do it.” I went home that night feeling satisfied that the president was on board with the full thirty-day plan. I was sitting in my favorite leather chair drinking an IPA beer, watching TV, when I saw a commentator note Trump’s tweets, “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!,” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!,” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA.” This shocked me. I turned to Christine and said, “What the hell is he doing?” In my experience, presidents typically listen to advice and do not make a decision on the spot, saying to the advisers around them that they are taking the recommendations under consideration. Only later do you learn what final decision they made. Not so with Donald Trump. At least not always. He often made up his mind as to what he was going to do while I, and others, were sitting right in front of him. But there was a parade of people in and out of the Oval Office, and after we left, the next person to meet or speak on the phone with him might well say something that changed his thinking. I believe that was how President Trump went from agreeing to abide by the thirty-day plan to “liberating” certain states.