Caught off guard by the significant uptick in new cases, White House officials have turned to the CDC, which is the definitive source of information about how communities can manage the spread of COVID-19 spread. But instead of fully embracing the CDC’s guidelines, the White House has selectively chosen which provisions to adhere to, two senior administration health officials said.

“It’s like they went through, read one sentence on one web page, and decided that’s how they were going to justify all the things they were going to allow to happen,” one official said. “That includes things like not isolating, not wearing masks.”…

But officials confided to The Daily Beast that they felt nervous about even showing up, fearing that their place of work had become a COVID hot zone. Some were blunt in their dismay with President Trump and worried about possible interactions with him in the near future.

“He’s the president, we can’t run away from him if he approaches,” a senior administration official said. “But the circle of people who feel comfortable telling him if he’s being inconsiderate is very small.”