Donald Trump Apologized to Anthony Fauci After ‘Irate’ Call: Book

Former President Donald Trump offered an apology to Dr. Anthony Fauci after an “irate” phone call in the summer of 2020, according to an excerpt of Fauci’s new book that was published Friday.

Fauci, a key figure overseeing the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has long had a tumultuous relationship with Trump and conservatives. Although Fauci worked alongside the former president to manage the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 1.1 million Americans since 2020, he has faced the ire of conservatives who view pandemic-era safety measures as government overreach that led to an economic downturn.

Fauci who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for 38 years before retiring in 2022 recounted a phone call with Trump in June 2020 in an excerpt of his new book, On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service published by The Daily Beast on Friday. The book, which comes out next week, details his complicated relationship with Trump throughout the pandemic, with the disease emerging as a politically divisive issue in recent years.

According to the report, Trump was upset at Fauci for telling reporters that the COVID-19 vaccination would likely need booster shots as the immunity would last for six months to a year, prompting the phone call.

As president, Trump oversaw the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, referred to as “Operation Warp Speed.” Vaccines for vulnerable groups were available in December, less than a year after the pandemic struck the U.S. despite some expectations that it could take much longer. The Trump administration, meanwhile, received bipartisan praise for the rollout.

“It was quite a phone call. The president was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this to him. He said he loved me, but the country was in trouble, and I was making it worse,” Fauci wrote.

The then-president allegedly complained that the stock market only went up about 600 points in response to positive news about the vaccine development. Trump allegedly said that Fauci “cost the country one trillion f****** dollars.”

“I have a pretty thick skin, but getting yelled at by the president of the United States, no matter how much he tells you that he loves you, is not fun, Fauci wrote.

After the phone call, Trump apologized to the doctor through an “intermediary,” Fauci wrote, according to the report.

Trump has not confirmed Fauci’s account of the phone call. Newsweek has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment via email.

Friday’s report comes just weeks after Fauci provided testimony about the U.S. response to the pandemic. The testimony grew tense at one point, with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and close ally to Trump, saying that he “belongs in prison.”

Trump has publicly been critical of Fauci at times. During a campaign stop in Opa-Locka, Florida, in November 2020, he suggested he could fire Fauci if reelected.