After numerous media sources reported that that White House officials were looking to fire Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar over his handling of COVID-19, Trump refuted the claim.
On Sunday, Trump denied the rumors via Twitter, tweeting “Reports that H.H.S. Secretary @AlexAzar is going to be ‘fired’ by me are Fake News.” Azar retweeted Trump, adding his own commentary. "Reports of President Trump looking to replace me are #FakeNews. The media continues to smear @POTUS and his Administration’s fight against #COVID19 and grossly overlook the historic whole-of-government response that we’ve been delivering under the President’s leadership."
News sources had previously reported discontent, saying that White House officials believed Azar had behind recent critical reports about President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Azar, a former Eli Lilly executive, was Trump’s nominee for HHS chief in November 2017 — but since then there have been scattered reports of the two clashing, mostly behind closed doors over issues such as health care reform, drug pricing and fetal tissue research.
Read the Reuters coverage