Price definitively diverged from Trump on this. “It’s not only our responsibility,” to let them back, he said, “it’s a moral action that must be taken.”

Price spoke of his recent trip to Liberia, an epicenter of the 2014 outbreak. “That was a devastating crisis, but it would not have ended the way it did—in a positive way—without the United States’ involvement. That’s a community that’s thrilled that the U.S. engaged.”

Price’s praise of President Barack Obama’s response to Ebola also differs from the position Trump took at the time of the outbreak. In another tweet, Trump called Obama’s decision to send the military to West Africa “dumb.”

“The United States has an incredibly important role to play in terms of world health,” Price said. “I believe we are the leader.”

But Trump’s proposed budget includes a $1.2 billion cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency that is at the forefront of U.S. leadership on international outbreak responses. The former CDC director Tom Frieden has called this cut “unsafe at any level of enactment.”

When Goldberg asked Price how to reconcile these cuts with his insistence on the importance of American global health leadership, Price said: “The premise to that question is that the CDC budget right now is exactly where it needs to be and there are no efficiencies to be gained. I would suggest to you that there are efficiencies that can be had.”

And as far as President Trump’s preparedness to handle whatever outbreak will inevitably emerge while he sits in the White House, Price expressed confidence. “I’ve been incredibly impressed with his inquisitiveness,” he said. “He’s got a great intellect. He’s engaging on the issues, and has a warmth about him, from a heart standpoint, for the nation that is impressive. When we have these conversations on the difficult challenges that exist, he fully understands and appreciates that the role of the United States is imperative in the world.”