Donald Trump said he had grown tired of Anthony Fauci after diaries kept by the former US infectious-disease adviser during the Covid-19 pandemic were released by Senator Rand Paul. The remarks revive a dispute over the Trump administration’s pandemic response and highlight the increasingly strained relationship between Trump and Fauci, who was a prominent member of the White House coronavirus task force.

Paul, a Republican senator and longtime Fauci critic, released thousands of pages of the diaries and argued that they raised questions about Fauci’s views on pandemic policy and Covid’s origins. The entries reportedly describe Fauci’s frustrations with Trump’s conduct and record their interactions as the pandemic unfolded; Trump responded that he had initially liked Fauci but became disillusioned with him.