The Trump administration has unveiled a revamped version of COVID.gov, reorienting the site to focus on what officials call the “true origins” of the COVID-19 pandemic and missteps by public health authorities. The newly updated website highlights the lab leak theory, criticizes former pandemic mandates, and points to failures by Democrats and mainstream media in handling the crisis.
A senior administration official emphasized the importance of transparency, stating:
“This administration prioritizes transparency over all else. The American people deserve to know the truth about the COVID pandemic, and we will always find ways to reach communities with that message.”
Previously centered on promoting vaccines and mitigation efforts, the site now presents a timeline and analysis of the lab leak theory. It also draws attention to former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci’s influence on shaping the dominant narrative around a natural origin for the virus.
One portion of the site reads:
“The publication The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2 — which was repeatedly cited by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory — was promoted by Dr. Fauci to support a preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated naturally.”
The site also references recent findings, including a 2025 CIA report concluding that a lab-based origin is the most likely scenario. The Department of Energy and former FBI Director Christopher Wray have also endorsed the possibility that COVID-19 originated from a lab.
“If there was evidence of a natural origin, it would have already surfaced. But it hasn’t,” the website notes. “Wuhan is home to China’s foremost SARS research lab — the coincidence is too big to ignore.”
Regarding pandemic-era rules, the website takes aim at social distancing and mask mandates.
“The ‘6 feet apart’ social distancing recommendation — which shut down schools and small businesses — was arbitrary and not based on science,” the site claims.
It cites closed-door testimony from Fauci in which he allegedly said the guidance “sort of just appeared.”
The website also critiques mask mandates:
“There was no conclusive evidence that masks effectively protected Americans from COVID-19. Public health officials flip-flopped on the efficacy of masks without providing scientific data — causing a massive uptick in public distrust.”
The updated site accuses public health institutions of spreading inconsistent messages and suppressing alternative viewpoints. Under a section titled COVID-19 Misinformation, the website says:
“Public health officials often misled the American people through conflicting messaging, knee-jerk reactions, and a lack of transparency. Most egregiously, the federal government demonized alternative treatments and disfavored narratives, such as the lab leak theory, in a shameful effort to coerce and control the American people’s health decisions.”
It also reminds visitors of how President Trump was ridiculed in 2020 for suggesting the virus may have leaked from a lab in Wuhan.
“Many in the media dismissed Trump’s claims as conspiracy theories. Now, even mainstream outlets admit the theory deserves serious consideration,” the site notes.
A March opinion piece in The New York Times, also cited on the site, concedes that the scientific community “badly misled” the public by downplaying the lab-leak hypothesis — a theory the paper once labeled “racist.”
The content on COVID.gov is now primarily sourced from the House Oversight Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, as the Trump administration seeks to offer what it calls a “truthful, science-based” account of what really happened.
