Meadows summed up Hahn about updating progress over the weekend. Hahn asked for their meeting over the phone, a source said, but the White House told him that the chief of staff had met more in person. This seems to have raised concerns within the FDA that the meeting could become tense, prompting Hahn to make a statement to Axios on Monday night in defense of the FDA timeline.
The person familiar with the meeting tells CNN that Hahn is ready to explain to the president’s team that it is not his decision to grant permission for emergency use. The review is done by career scientists and does not make an independent decision.
However, Trump has become frustrated in private about how long the process will take, sources told CNN. He proudly and publicly acknowledged that he had put pressure on the FDA to move faster.
“It could have taken four or five years,” Trump told reporters about the progress of the Thanksgiving vaccine. “Normally, it probably should have been four or five years, just through the FDA. We were pushing very hard.”
Amid the president’s complaints that the FDA is operating too slowly, White House spokesman Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox News Tuesday that the agency was working “day and night,” but he said Trump would never apologize for a fire. placed on these agencies “.
“We definitely want a safe vaccination. We also want a fast vaccination because life is at stake and vaccination until the end of the year is key and most important,” McEnany said.
It is unclear how the meeting between Meadows and Hahn will take place. Distrust between Trump’s closest advisers and career scientists dealing with the FDA existed even before the FDA issued public statements about Monday night’s meeting.
“The FDA has been preparing for an EUA review of Covid-19 vaccines for several months and is ready to do so as soon as the EUA’s application is submitted,” Hahn said shortly after Pfizer requested permission for emergency use in the statement. vaccine in late November. “While we can’t predict how long the FDA review will take, the FDA will review the application as soon as possible, while doing so in a thorough and scientifically sound manner to help provide a vaccine that the American people deserve as soon as possible. . “
