[Headlines from DRJ]

Trump: Kim says ready to restart talks when U.S.-South Korea joint drills end:

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Kim Jong Un told him he was ready to resume talks on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and would stop missile testing as soon as U.S.-South Korea military exercises end.

Trump and Kim have met twice since their first summit in Singapore last year, but little progress has been on Washington’s aim of getting the North Korean leader to give up his weapons.

“I look forward to seeing Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future!” Trump said on Twitter.

The sticking point delaying their next meeting seems to be the computer-simulated joint exercises between the US and South Korea:

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range missiles on Saturday, South Korea said, in a “show of force” against the exercises.

More missile launches are highly probable, as the North Korean military is conducting its own summer drills, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement. The exercises are largely computer-simulated as an alternative to previous large-scale annual drills that were halted to expedite denuclearization talks.

In his tweet, Trump said Kim sent him a letter saying “very nicely” that he wanted to meet once the “ridiculous and expensive” U.S.-South Korea exercises were over. Trump added: “It was also a small apology for testing the short range missiles, and that this testing would stop when the exercises end.”

Trump had previously ended the full-scale joint exercises to please Kim but without gaining any concessions. However, that didn’t dampen Trump’s praise for Kim’s “positive letter:”

Trump previously praised the contents of Kim’s letter in remarks to reporters on Friday, calling it a “beautiful” gesture by the North Korean leader.

“I think we’ll have another meeting,” Trump said. “He really wrote a beautiful, three-page — I mean, right from top to bottom — a really beautiful letter. And maybe I’ll release the results of the letter, but it was a very positive letter.”

This reminds me of those old movies where the couple argue and then make up (but only after the guy gives the girl expensive make-up gifts), only to repeat again and again.

— DRJ

[guest post by Dana]

The Baltimore Sun responded to President Trump’s Twitter rant about Maryland’s 7th congressional district and Rep. Elijah Cummings. This after Trump’s descriptions included “no human being would want to live there,” it is a “very dangerous & filthy place,” “Worst in the USA” and it is a “rat and rodent infested mess”:

Finally, while we would not sink to name-calling in the Trumpian manner — or ruefully point out that he failed to spell the congressman’s name correctly (it’s Cummings, not Cumming) — we would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are “good people” among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post. Or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity. Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one.

P.S. This morning, Trump upped the ante, and referred to Cummings as “King Elijah”.

–Dana

[Headline from DRJ]

Donald Trump on Twitter:

At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!

1:56 PM · Jun 22, 2019

Mayors in multiple cities had vowed to oppose deportations in their cities.

UPDATE: Miami Herald Editorial Board: Reprehensible immigrant round ups in Miami postponed — for now.

— DRJ

….Guess what, that’s not going to happen! China has just informed us that they (Vice-Premier) are now coming to the U.S. to make a deal. We’ll see, but I am very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling U.S. coffers…great for U.S., not good for China!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2019

Translation:

“I am very happy with a tax increase on American consumers and manufacturers.”

Who pays that tax increase? Americans, not China:

Economists have long know[n] that trade wars can be good for some countries (at the expense of their trading partners) if a country can apply a tariff that induces exporters to substantially reduce their export prices in order to maintain their market access. For example, if the reaction of foreign solar panel makers to the new 30 percent US tariff were to drop their prices by 30 percent, the US could gain because the foreign producers of solar panels would absorb the full cost of the import tax thus leaving the landed prices of solar panels unaffected and filling the coffers of the treasury with the tariff revenues. If foreign exporters do not drop their prices, however, then purchasers of solar panel prices will bear the full cost of the higher import taxes and also incur welfare losses as some choose less efficient means to generate electricity.

Thus, whether these tariffs are beneficial or not is an empirical question that we can now answer. In a recent paper, Mary Amiti of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Stephen Redding of Princeton and I analyzed the impact of the 2018 tariffs on the prices and import quantities of millions of import flows. The results clearly show that the costs of the import tariffs have landed entirely on US citizens. As a result, imports in targeted sectors have fallen precipitously as double-digit tariffs have been levied on our imports.

Through November 2018, US importers and consumers experienced $12.3 billion in added tax costs and another $6.9 billion from unrecoverable reductions in welfare arising from the tariffs forcing consumers to cut back on import purchases. Since many of these tariffs were only applied in October, the costs are mounting rapidly. By November 2018, purchasers of imports were paying $3 billion per month in import taxes and suffering another $1.4 billion per month in unrecoverable welfare costs. To put this into perspective, if we were to think that a successful outcome from the trade war would be the creation of 35,400 manufacturing jobs—the number of steel and aluminum jobs lost in the last ten years—then the welfare loss per job saved is $195,000, which is almost four times more than annual wage of a steel worker: $52,500.

Tariffs are similar to blockading our harbors (or closing our borders to the legal flow of commerce). Functionally, it’s the same: it prevents our citizens from enjoying the benefits of the division of labor. We blockade other countries’ harbors in wartime, knowing it will hurt them — but we functionally blockade our own in peacetime by imposing tariffs, brainwashed by ignorant populist propaganda into thinking that such a self-destructive act hurts the enemy.

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

China, which previously threatened tariffs on pork, fruit, and other commodities, today expanded the list to include soybeans, cars, and airplanes. The Bezos #FAKENEWS!!1! Washington Post reports:

President Trump showed no sign Wednesday of backing down from an escalating trade confrontation with China, even as financial markets wobbled and American farmers and manufacturers warned that he was inviting a damaging commercial clash.

Hours after the Chinese government announced plans to match the president’s tariffs on $50 billion in imported Chinese goods with import levies on American soybeans, cars and airplanes, Trump fired off a pair of bellicose tweets.

“When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!” the president wrote in a possible reference to last year’s $566 billion U.S. deficit in goods and services trade.

Wall Street was less sanguine. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 500 points in early trading before rebounding by midday. Soybean prices also plunged more than 5 percent as traders grappled with the possible closure of a market that bought roughly half of U.S. exports of the commodity last year.

As alluded to in the Post article, the Dunce in Chief responded to the news in his trademark embarrassingly ignorant style:

We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 4, 2018

When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 4, 2018

Those who are economically literate understand that a “trade deficit” is a good thing. I have explained this at length before:

Even the much-maligned “trade deficit” is actually a good thing, not a bad thing. If you’re ignorant (like Trump), you hear the word “deficit” and assume that it must be somehow bad. The matter should have been put to rest with Adam Smith’s book “The Wealth of Nations.” Smith proclaimed: “Nothing can be more absurd than this whole doctrine of the balance of trade.” As financial writer Simon Constable said, “a big trade deficit shows that you got more for your exports than did the other country.”

Those trying to explain economics must often feel like Ben Stein as he tries to explain the dangers of tariffs to a roomful of Trumpist protectionists vacant high-school students:

Those who say that China declared a trade war on us, and we are just responding, point to studies that show, for example, that Chinese currency manipulations “raise the cost of all American goods and services in China by somewhere between 25-40%.” Who does that sound like it hurts? Anyone? Anyone? The Chinese. And if the cost of Chinese goods goes up here, who does that hurt? Anyone? Anyone? Americans.

Some argue that some American businesses can’t compete with cheaper Chinese goods. That may be. So, your “conservative” solution is to enlist a central government to take away Americans’ freedom to buy less expensive goods? We are to hurt everyone, to protect a handful of businesses that can’t compete — and this is the “American way”?

Like free trade, innovation also drives certain companies out of business as it lowers prices and increases the standard of living generally. Should we therefore get the government to outlaw or slow the growth of innovation, to protect the companies whose obsolete products are hurt by innovation?

Think about it. The invention of the gas-powered motor vehicle fueled economic growth and brought about an increase in the standard of living. But it didn’t help everyone! In particular, that invention really hurt the folks who invested in horse and buggy businesses. People were driven out of work! Investors lost their shirts! Businesses went under! Using protectionist logic, we should have prevented the invention of motor vehicles, obviously. What’s the difference? It’s the very same logic that says we should restrict consumer freedom and impose higher costs on American consumers in the name of protecting a handful of companies.

And make no mistake: while our tariffs “protect” some American companies, they harm far more American companies, as I have also explained before:

[T]wo-thirds of the materials that we import are not consumer goods, but rather inputs into American production. To the extent that we restrict and tax those inputs, we raise the cost of American production — which makes us less productive, not more productive.

The irony here is that the tariffs China announced today hurt China more than they hurt us. But if you believe otherwise, and subscribe to the Trumpist notion that Country A’s tariffs on good from Country B hurt Country B, then China really hit us hard today. Yet the very same people who don’t understand economics and have never read Adam Smith will cheer this — because it has nothing to do with policy, but rather with the appearance of “fighting back.” Even if all the blows land on us, who cares? He fights!

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

[guest post by Dana]

Yesterday:

The Trump administration acknowledged on Saturday for the first time that it was in direct communication with the government of North Korea over its missile and nuclear tests, seeking a possible way forward beyond the escalating threats of a military confrontation from both sides.

“We are probing, so stay tuned,” Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said, when pressed about how he might begin a conversation with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, that could avert what many government officials fear is a significant chance of open conflict between the two countries.

“We ask, ‘Would you like to talk?’ We have lines of communications to Pyongyang — we’re not in a dark situation, a blackout,” he added. “We have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang,” a reference to North Korea’s capital.

The report goes on to clarify that North Korea is not interested in any negotiations if they include a requirement to disarm, and that President Trump is unwilling to make any concessions. Tillerson’s spokesperson, Heather Nauert, offered this:

Despite assurances that the United States is not interested in promoting the collapse of the current regime, pursuing regime change, accelerating reunification of the peninsula or mobilizing forces north of the DMZ, North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization.

Cue President Trump’s morning tweets:

Okay. I give. Clearly, I’m too ignorant to understand how comments like these reflect a clever and brilliant strategy. You, who have tapped into President Trump’s unique genius, are going to have to enlighten me. How are veiled threats and threats of annihilation helpful? It appears I’m not the only one confused:

North Korean officials are reaching out to Republican analysts in Washington, DC, in an effort to see what’s up with President Trump and his ​caustic ​comments about ​regime leader ​Kim Jong Un, according to a report Tuesday.

“Their number one concern is Trump. They can’t figure him out,” the Washington Post reported, quoting a person aware of the country’s reaching out to Asia experts with GOP connections.

And while the North Korean operatives have an “encyclopedic” understanding of what Trump tweets about Kim, they can’t get a fix on what makes the president tick.​

…

Evans Revere, a former State Department official who routinely had contact with North Korea, participated in the meeting in Switzerland and has his own opinion about what the operatives are up to.

“My own guess is that they are somewhat puzzled as to the direction in which the US is going, so they’re trying to open up channels to take the pulse in Washington,”​ ​he told the newspaper. “They haven’t seen the US act like this before.”

Maybe it’s a simple strategy of being so erratic and unpredictable that North Korea is kept off balance:

Some Trump aides have said that the discordant foreign policy voices emanating from the administration are intentionally out of sync — that Trump likes a set up where some officials use harsher, tougher rhetoric than others. It’s a good cop-bad cop routine that, administration officials say, is designed to keep enemies on their toes. Besides Trump, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has often employed harsher language than Tillerson.

Or maybe there is no real strategy involved. Maybe we are just witnessing the ongoing reflexive reactions of an impulsive man who likes to punch back 10 times harder.

Exit question: Does Tillerson become the next cabinet member to resign?

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee defended the president:

“I don’t think that the president’s ever been someone who gets attack and doesn’t push back. There have been an outrageous number of personal attacks, not just to him, but to frankly everyone around him,” Sanders told host Bill Hemmer.

“This is a president who fights fire with fire. And certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by a liberal media and the liberal elites within the media or Hollywood or anywhere else,” she added.

Unsurprisingly, so did Melania Trump via her communications director:

“As the First Lady has stated publicly…when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder.”

Keep on telling me how great it is that our president tweets directly to the people because I just can’t even. How about using the medium to advance sound policies and solid principles, all in the name of conservatism (or whatever it is that the GOP now embodies) or just stop tweeting altogether…

–Dana

I have argued that the members of the Freedom Caucus who opposed TrumpCare aka the AHCA are heroes. Donald Trump apparently disagrees:

The Republican House Freedom Caucus was able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After so many bad years they were ready for a win!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2017

What he calls “the jaws of victory” I call “the jaws of ObamaCare lite.” For Trump, the solution, apparently, is to negotiate with Democrats:

The Democrats will make a deal with me on healthcare as soon as ObamaCare folds – not long. Do not worry, we are in very good shape!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2017

Nothing says “good policy” like a deal that makes Democrats happy!

Here’s the problem with Trump’s latest tantrum: the folks in the Freedom Caucus were not the only people who opposed this dog of a bill. They’re just the ones Paul Ryan wanted to blame. Leon Wolf has an indispensable piece about this, and I’ll just tease you with a few paragraphs:

Ryan would have you believe that the Freedom Caucus was solely responsible for the scuttling of his deeply unpopular pet project to “repeal” Obamacare. The media, which are largely ignorant of the internal dynamics of the House GOP caucus because they are largely staffed by ex-Democrat Hill staffers, have been happy to carry Ryan’s water in this regard — either because they, too, dislike the Freedom Caucus or because they are too lazy to dig even an inch below the surface and learn the truth.

Of course, the Freedom Caucus might well wish to claim the AHCA’s defeat as a net positive since Americans opposed its passage by a whopping margin of 56 percent. However, regardless of the particulars of the act, Ryan now has a convenient scapegoat he can blame for the party’s failure to pass a bill that at least nominally replaced Obamacare — both with Chamber of Commerce-types who supported AHCA-style reform and, more significantly, with President Donald Trump (who looks increasingly likely to enter the fray in Republican House primaries in 2018). And with the latter target, there is evidence that his campaign is working, since Trump has begun grousing aloud about Freedom Caucus members on his Twitter account.

The facts, however, tell a very different story. Even though liberals and moderates in the House GOP caucus were quieter during the AHCA debate, they were no less opposed to the bill. The only difference is that Ryan opted not to place them in a difficult position — an opportunity Freedom Caucus members were not afforded.

All emphasis in the original. Read it all.

There’s a path to repealing ObamaCare that makes sense. That path is not making “great deals” with Democrats out of pique. The correct path is Ted Cruz’s plan. That path is the free market.

Pass it and dare the chucklehead Trump to veto it.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

[guest post by Dana]

You know, I’ve avoided posting about this story because it’s so disturbing to me that the President of the United States would promote a baseless and debunked conspiracy theory, and cause undue hurt to an innocent family as a result. But I am publishing a post about it because I am livid that Trump doesn’t give a rat’s ass about a very real family, whose members have already mourned and grieved the loss of their loved one and find themselves grieving all over again because, in an effort to smear MSNBC on-air host Joe Scarbarough, our deranged president has insinuated in a series of indefensible tweets that foul play was involved in the death of Lori Klausutis, and that Joe Scarbarough was at the heart of it.

Klausutis was an employee who was found dead in Joe Scarbarough’s then-congressional office:

A little after 8 a.m. on July 20, 2001, a couple arriving for an appointment opened an unlocked front door at an office in the Florida panhandle town of Fort Walton Beach and discovered a woman lying on the floor, dead. Her name was Lori Kaye Klausutis and she was just 28.

The police said they found no signs of foul play. The medical examiner concluded her lonely death was an accident. She had fainted, the result of a heart condition, and hit her head on a desk, he said.

In an attack on Joe Scarbarough, Trump posted a number of tweets referencing the death of Klausutis, in which he smeared her by implying there might have been an affair, and asked intentionally suggested that Scarbarough had gotten away with murder. Here are Trump’s tweets from the past weekend and today:

A lot of interest in this story about Psycho Joe Scarborough. So a young marathon runner just happened to faint in his office, hit her head on his desk, & die? I would think there is a lot more to this story than that? An affair? What about the so-called investigator? Read story! https://t.co/CjBXBXxoNS

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2020

….about whether or not Joe could have done such a horrible thing? Maybe or maybe not, but I find Joe to be a total Nut Job, and I knew him well, far better than most. So many unanswered & obvious questions, but I won’t bring them up now! Law enforcement eventually will?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020

In a moving letter, the surviving husband of Lori Klausutis implored Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, to delete the tweets involving the death of his wife. Via the NYT, I am posting the letter in full because I think it’s important we get a full picture of inordinate cruelty of Trump’s comments:

21 May 2020

Jack Dorsey, CEO
Twitter Inc.
1355 Market Street
Suite 900
San Francisco, California 94103
Via email: jack@twitter.com

Mr. Dorsey:

Nearly 19 years ago, my wife, who had an undiagnosed heart condition, fell and hit her head on her desk at work. She was found dead the next morning. Her name is Lori Kaye Klausutis and she was 28 years old when she died. Her passing is the single most painful thing that I have ever had to deal with in my 52 years and continues to haunt her parents and sister.

I have mourned my wife every day since her passing. I have tried to honor her memory and our marriage. As her husband, I feel that one of my marital obligations is to protect her memory as I would have protected her in life. There has been a constant barrage of falsehoods, half-truths, innuendo and conspiracy theories since the day she died. I realize that may sound like an exaggeration, unfortunately it is the verifiable truth. Because of this, I have struggled to move forward with my life.

The frequency, intensity, ugliness, and promulgation of these horrifying lies ever increases on the internet. These conspiracy theorists, including most recently the President of the United States, continue to spread their bile and misinformation on your platform disparaging the memory of my wife and our marriage. President Trump on Tuesday tweeted to his nearly 80 million followers alluding to the repeatedly debunked falsehood that my wife was murdered by her boss, former U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough. The son of the president followed and more directly attacked my wife by tweeting to his followers as the means of spreading this vicious lie.

I’m sure you are aware of this situation because media around the world have covered it, but just in case, here it is:

When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn’t it obvious? What’s happening now? A total nut job!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2020

“Concast” should open up a long overdue Florida Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough. I know him and Crazy Mika well, used them beautifully in the last Election, dumped them nicely, and will state on the record that he is “nuts”. Besides, bad ratings! #OPENJOECOLDCASE

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2020

What show is Joe going to go on to discuss Lori Klausutis? https://t.co/sL4AxAQrlb

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 30, 2020

My request is simple: Please delete these tweets.

I’m a research engineer and nota lawyer, but I’ve reviewed all of Twitter’s rules and terms of service. The President’s tweet that suggests that Lori was murdered — without evidence (and contrary to the official autopsy) — is a violation of Twitter’s community rules and terms of service. An ordinary user like me would be banished from the platform for such a tweet but I am only asking that these tweets be removed.

I am now angry as well as frustrated and grieved. I understand that Twitter’s policies about content are designed to maintain the appearance that your hands are clean you provide the platform and the rest is up to users. However, in certain past cases, Twitter has removed content and accounts that are inconsistent with your terms of service.

I’m asking you to intervene in this instance because the President of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him — the memory of my dead wife — and perverted it for perceived political gain. I would also ask that you consider Lori’s niece and two nephews who will eventually come across this filth in the future. They have never met their Aunt and it pains me to think they would ever have to “learn” about her this way.

My wife deserves better.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Timothy J. Klausutis, Ph.D.

Scarbarough’s on-air co-host and real life wife Mika Brzezinski has been vigorously attacking Trump for his outlandish tweets, as well as imploring Twitter to delete them. Last week, she said that a phone call between her and Jack Dorsey was being set up:

“Donald, you’re a sick person. You’re a sick person, to put this family through this, to put her husband through this, to do this just because you’re mad at Joe, because Joe got you again today,” she said. “Because he speaks the truth, and he speaks plainly about your lack of interest and empathy in others and your lack of ability to handle this massive human catastrophe, the fact that you have made it worse and you make it worse every day. And that you won’t even wear a mask to protect people from your germs.”

Brzezinski said Twitter should not be allowing the tweets and that they should be taken down. “You will be hearing from me on this, because this is B.S.” she said. She later tweeted at Dorsey, “@jack At what point is @Twitter a part of this? TAKE DOWN TRUMP’s ACCOUNT— the world world be safer. Retweet if you agree.”

Today Twitter responded to requests that President Trump’s tweets be deleted, saying that they did not violate its terms of service:

Twitter spokesperson told Mediaite, “We are deeply sorry about the pain these statements, and the attention they are drawing, are causing the family.”

“We’ve been working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward, and we hope to have those changes in place shortly,” they added.

For your information, Twitter rules on abusive behavior are here:

Abuse/harassment: You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. This includes wishing or hoping that someone experiences physical harm.

…

In order to facilitate healthy dialogue on the platform, and empower individuals to express diverse opinions and beliefs, we prohibit behavior that harasses or intimidates, or is otherwise intended to shame or degrade others. In addition to posing risks to people’s safety, abusive behavior may also lead to physical and emotional hardship for those affected.

I would like to know the process that Twitter went through to arrive at the conclusion they did. I would also like to see Twitter rules applied equally to all of its users.

Mostly, I am just so sorry for the pain that Mr. Klausutis, a private citizen, is needlessly experiencing because the President of the United States is such an abysmal individual.

[Ed. Do not attempt to defend Trump’s tweets in the post are indefensible. However, commenter Appalled suggests that it would be instructive to see people attempt to defend all the collateral damage, so comments are open.]

–Dana

Even he couldn’t be dumb enough to fire Fauci. Right?

Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you @OANN https://t.co/d40JQkUZg5

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2020

According to the Daily Beast, when Trump wasn’t busy ragetweeting at Mike Wallace, he spent a good chunk of the weekend staying on top of plans for massive antibody testing throughout America calling friends to ask what they think of Fauci:

“What do you think of Fauci?” the president repeatedly worked into his phone conversations over the past few days, the three sources said, as he pulsed his broader network of informal advisers, industry allies, and current staff on their opinions on the news of the day. At one point this weekend, Trump remarked that he’s made Fauci a “star” and that barely anybody would have known who the doctor was were it not for the president putting him front and center in the administration’s coronavirus response, televised press briefings, and media strategy.

“He did not sound bitter about it, I wouldn’t say that,” one of the people familiar with the comments said. “It just sounded like he thought it was worth a reminder.”

On Sunday morning, Fauci appeared on CNN host Jake Tapper’s show and seemed to confirm aspects of a Saturday New York Times story (one that had apparently upset the president) that he and other officials had advocated imposing restrictions and social-distancing guidelines in February, but the Trump administration did not act on their advice until nearly a month later.

“We make a recommendation. Often the recommendation is taken. Sometimes it’s not. But it is what it is. We are where we are right now,” Fauci told the State of the Union anchor. When asked by Tapper whether lives could have been saved if Trump and other top officials had taken and announced those recommendations in February, the doctor responded, “It’s very difficult to go back and say that. I mean, obviously you could logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Obviously no one is going to deny that.”

Fauci’s comments did not go over well with certain officials working in the White House or on the president’s campaign, according to multiple aides, or with Trump supporters who are publicly protective of the president and his image. “Dr. Fauci needs to be more careful choosing his words on #Coronavirus, & if he’s going to be critical, make clear what he personally could’ve done better,” Jason Miller, a former senior Trump adviser, posted to Twitter on Sunday.

Jason Miller is a very careful guy — except perhaps around certain establishments in Orlando, according to court documents — and it is very important that Fauci listen to Miller’s advice rather than tell the truth the way he keeps doing.