A top official in President Donald Trump's first administration was forced to take over a key public health meeting from the president, who was "rambling" and refused to stay on topic.

According to a report from the Washington Post, the diaries of Anthony Fauci, the NIH scientist who led the U.S. fight against the COVID pandemic, reveal Trump's erratic behavior during the health crisis that shut down the country.

Fauci's personal diary entries, released this weekend by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), provide an intimate portrait of a president unraveling in real time as the pandemic spiraled out of control.

Their initial encounter seemed promising. On Jan. 29, 2020, Trump approached Fauci in the Situation Room with apparent deference.

"The President came in and the first thing he said as he looked at me was: 'Anthony, you are really a famous guy,'" Fauci recorded. Trump stayed for 20 minutes, directing most questions at Fauci while deputies looked on in astonishment.

The civility evaporated quickly. By March, Fauci was reportedly exhausted by Trump's inability to focus on the matter at hand.

On March 27, Fauci documented a Trump press conference meltdown: "Very laborious press conference where the POTUS rambled on. He wasted the opportunity to just focus on the relief package and went into his diatribe against previous administrations."

The next day, the situation deteriorated further. Fauci was forced to seize control of a meeting to prevent further disaster. "AMAZING interaction with POTUS. … I led the discussions since the POTUS kept referring to me. It was a disturbingly rambling discussion since he kept talking about TV ratings, and HC [Hydroxychloroquine], and influenza and virtually everything else as I was trying to keep him on track (with the help of the VP)," he wrote.

Fauci had to explicitly demand Trump focus on critical messaging: "I insisted through the rambling and lack of attention span that the POTUS explicitly say that this is NOT a quarantine."

By August, Trump's focus had deteriorated to alarming levels. Fauci documented a president removed from reality, "throwing around the F--- word" and ranting incoherently.

On Aug. 4, Fauci recorded: "He's desperate and still does not understand the pandemic. Very interesting encounter."

Three days later, Trump's delusion deepened, with Fauci documenting: "POTUS acting even more erratically. Keeps insisting that increased case numbers are due only to increased testing, ignoring the increases in percent positive, hospitalizations and deaths (>1000/day)."

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be out of a job sooner rather than later, with President Donald Trump reportedly having already selected his successor.

As part of a report on the president pressuring the controversial Cabinet member to ramp up studies linking childhood vaccines to autism, with the president thinking he is not "doing his job," the Wall Street Journal is reporting this might be the beginning of the end for Kennedy.

According to the Journal, Trump has already begun grooming Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, as Kennedy's potential replacement. White House insiders and HHS staff privately speculate Oz will eventually take over — potentially after the midterm elections, a "traditional time" for cabinet reshuffles.

"The president often calls or texts Oz on health policy matters that have nothing to do with his agency, people familiar with the matter said, and Oz takes responsibility for ensuring the president gets what he wants," the report notes before adding, "Oz advised the president on marijuana ahead of an executive order in December to loosen restrictions on the drug, some of the people said. Oz, an adept surrogate for the administration on TV and in the halls of Congress, is also a favorite of the White House staff.

As for Kennedy, he has been under scrutiny for months. Last winter, White House aides launched a "top-to-bottom review" of his department management, citing infighting between HHS and the FDA. Two top leaders were reassigned, and Kennedy's advisory team was restructured.

The MAHA movement erupted in chaos this summer when rumors of Kennedy's imminent departure spread across social media. Dr. Robert Malone, a Kennedy associate, posted on X that Kennedy would leave after July 4 and that Oz was heading a transition team.

Oz himself appeared at an exclusive gathering near the White House to insist the story was false, the Journal is reporting.

Kennedy's son, Robert F. Kennedy III, reportedly exclaiming to attendees, "My dad's not a quitter!"

The report notes that Kennedy wants to "survive" and "even to stay on as secretary into the next president’s administration, according to people familiar with his thinking."

A former Republican congressional staffer called out Sen. Mitch McConnell's lack of transparency as his mysterious absence stretches into its sixth week.

The 84-year-old senator's office issued a second photo Monday showing McConnell seated in a hospital bed alongside his wife, Elaine Chao, and explaining that he was undergoing "intense physical therapy" on a doctor's orders, but Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear expressed doubts about his claims and demanded more clarity.

"The attending physician’s written statement does not discuss your actual condition, including whether you can speak, reason, or carry out your duties as a senator," the governor stated in a letter. "I understand anyone’s desire for privacy, but when you run for office and serve as one of a state’s two US senators, you willingly abdicate much of your personal privacy."

“As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Beshear added.

T.W. Arrighi, a former communications aide to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), agreed that McConnell owed his constituents a stronger explanation for his continued absence from the U.S. Senate.

"I think every American wants more transparency," Arrighi told "CNN This Morning." "Even the Republicans of Kentucky would like it. I'm not saying Mitch McConnell is lying or being deceitful. I just think he should be more forthright and put out a quick video."

"But look, let's put this in perspective," Arrighi added. "He's not running again, which was a good thing. I wish we had all old politicians say they aren't running again. He's not running again. We have three or four weeks, maybe, of the Senate calendar left. Everything else is operating, and they have a Democratic governor in Kentucky, so resigning is out of the option, out of the playbook."

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