Meadows, Kushner and White House counselor Hope Hicks continue to recommend that Trump largely steer clear of the issue. Pence and trade adviser Peter Navarro are pushing the President to take on a more active role, warning the soaring number of cases could cause major disruptions across the country, according to one adviser as well as one other source close to the White House…

The divide inside the West Wing over the pandemic was made more apparent by Dr. Anthony Fauci’s testimony before a Senate committee on Tuesday, during which the infectious diseases expert warned lawmakers that coronavirus cases could skyrocket over the coming weeks from approximately 40,000 a day to 100,000.

A separate source close to the White House described Fauci’s testimony as “dropping bombs” on a disengaged Trump. Another administration official said Fauci was describing what can be seen as a “resurgence within the first wave.” Trump and Fauci, who rarely speak, have frequently appeared at odds in their assessments of the crisis.

As cases began to increase again last month, the White House made a concerted effort to avoid the dramatic, national emergency-style optics that marked the first surge of coronavirus in the United States — hoping to portray this latest surge to the public as far less alarming.