WASHINGTON, DC—In an early Tuesday morning talk at the American Society for Microbiology’s Biothreats conference, Dr. Anthony Fauci revealed what he said in his first meeting with the Trump Administration. Of course, he couldn’t resist dropping decades of knowledge about disease outbreaks at the same time.

Like all incoming administrations, the Trump Administration called on Dr. Fauci for a briefing on what to expect and how it should prepare for inevitable outbreaks during its time in office. Fauci is uniquely qualified to fill this role.

Dr. Fauci is not only an infectious disease expert and researcher; he’s been the director of the National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He’s helped oversee US research on and responses to everything from the emergence of HIV/AIDS, to bird flu, SARS, chikungunya, drug-resistant microbes, and Zika. When American healthcare workers came down with Ebola in 2014 and 2015, he was personally involved in their treatment at the NIH—he suited up and attended their bedsides.

With his experiences from the frontlines, Dr. Fauci has advised and briefed every president, administration, and Congress along the way, starting with Ronald Reagan. He’s testified before Congress somewhere between 250 and 300 times. With each new testimony and disease, Fauci and his colleagues noted failures and successes at preventing, diagnosing, treating, and developing vaccines—as well as advising leaders.

While HIV/AIDS dominated Fauci’s attention and work during the 1980s, Clinton’s term meant that he had to deal with the emergence of West Nile virus, the first detection of H5N1 avian flu, and the growing problem of drug-resistant microbes. Still, he recalled personally explaining to President Clinton the details of how HIV interacts with cell receptors on human immune cells. “He was a wonk,” Fauci laughed.

Under President George W. Bush, anthrax attacks and SARS generated panic, and H5N1 became a global issue. While the country was gripped with fear over bio- warfare and terror, Fauci told Bush what he still says: nature is the most devious and dangerous terrorist.

President Obama had, arguably, the hardest time. He dealt with H1N1 swine flu, MERS, chikungunya, Ebola outbreaks, Zika, and alarm over drug-resistant microbes. In a brief interview with Ars, Dr. Fauci said he was optimistic about the progress the Obama Administration made on this last point, and he noted several government-wide actions and programs that addressed superbugs.

In his meeting with the Trump Administration, Fauci said he told it to expect to see more of Zika and flu viruses in the next four years. He also told it what he tells every administration: we’re likely to see an infectious disease emerge out of left field. Expect the unexpected, he advised.

To prepare for that, Dr. Fauci provided a sharp list from his decades of experience. Focus on:

Global surveillance of infectious diseases

Transparency and communication about outbreaks

Global infrastructure and capacity building to respond to diseases

Adaptable technology platforms for quickly developing vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics

And, most importantly, a stable funding mechanism to respond to outbreaks

The latter, he added, is something he’s been harping on for a while. He called the delayed and piecemeal funding of the Zika response “an embarrassment.”

Whether or not the administration will follow his advice remains to be seen. But Fauci noted that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis were keen to listen to his advice.