Just two days after the first case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci was already imagining himself to be an adversary to President Donald Trump. Fauci wrote about the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in a series of diary entries — published Saturday by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) ahead of Fauci’s planned Capitol Hill testimony on Wednesday — and it was clear that the former White House medical adviser fancied himself to be the guy who would tell the truth even if doing so provoked the ire of the president. The first confirmed case — involving a man who had recently traveled from Wuhan, China, to Snohomish County, Washington — was reported on January 20, 2020. Fauci wrote about that the following day, saying, “He walked into a clinical with fever and respiratory sxs and was smart enough to mention that he just came from Wuhan.” He followed that comment with a list of nine interviews he’d done with various media outlets about the rapidly spreading virus. On January 22, Fauci noted that the United States was moving to contain the spread by routing all travelers from Wuhan through five airports where they could be screened upon arrival — “Chicago ORD and Atl airports added to entry screening with JFK, LAX, and SFO,” he wrote — and he noted that worldwide, there had been 400 reported cases and nine deaths. Just above his usual daily list of media appearances, he wrote, “On the interview below (FOX Business with David Asman) one of the panel asked me to comment of a clip he played where Trump said that everything is under control. Xi Jinping told him everything is under control.” He then suggested that Trump might view it as a direct contradiction when he said that the situation was being taken “very seriously,” adding, “I had to answer that we are taking this very seriously and that Americans should not be frightened or worry, but we are taking it seriously. Let us see if this pits me against the POTUS.” If Fauci’s later entries are to be believed, Trump was clearly unbothered by that particular comment. Two weeks lates, on February 6, Fauci wrote, “When we walked in the POTUS was not yet in the room. When he walked in with Melania, the first thing he did was say, ‘Anthony, come here and say hello to Melania.’ Then, to my embarrassment in front of everyone (Kellyanne, Mick, Bob O’Brien and many in Cabinet) he told Melania that I was the smartest person in the world.”