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Donald Trump may be threatening to defund the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency he accuses of “severely mismanaging” the coronavirus epidemic. But diplomats and public health experts at the WHO and elsewhere say the U.S. president has already gutted the agency that has traditionally taken the lead in battling global pandemics: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Wheaton, Furlong and Kenen, 4/15)

On an afternoon in late February, hours after stepping off an overnight flight from India, President Donald Trump huddled with senior aides in the Oval Office to discuss a coronavirus outbreak that was spreading within the U.S. and wrecking a stock-market boom. Trump wanted someone else to steer the administration’s public health response if the virus hit the U.S. hard, but he was unimpressed with the names his aides were tossing out. As they ticked through potential candidates, Trump settled on an easier solution: Mike Pence. (Orr, 4/16)

The White House is installing Trump campaign veteran Michael Caputo in the health department’s top communications position, Caputo confirmed to POLITICO. The move is designed to assert more White House control over Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whom officials believe has been behind recent critical reports about President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to two officials with knowledge of the move. (Diamond and Lippman, 4/15)

Top public health officials have been pushed to the background at President Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings this week. As the number of cases and deaths from the virus in the U.S. mounts, Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx have been less visible during what have increasingly become Trump-centric briefings in prime time. (Samuels and Chalfant, 4/15)

After the Trump administration abruptly installed a new hardline leader last month, the health department’s refugee office is pushing to implement immigration policies favored by White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, according to four health department officials and internal documents reviewed by POLITICO. The office — which takes custody of thousands of migrant children — is now seeking to delay placing migrant children in shelters operated by the health department, which would instead leave those children in the custody of the border patrol for an extended length of time, according to an internal email sent last week and reviewed by POLITICO. (Diamond, 4/16)