So, you do understand where all the lack of trust comes from.
I've been through the Birx book now. It basically confirms everything that the Scott Atlas book said happened:
-Trump (and Fauci for that matter) were in denial about what was heading their way. Birx saw it early on, and tried to get people to focus on it, but Trump and his advisors didn't want to believe it was going to happen and thought that like SARS1, it would be contained in Asia
-Birx lied to the admin about 15 days to slow the spread. She sold it that way knowing that 15 days wouldn't be enough, but told the admin it would be a way to get it under control. Trump ate it up because he was desperate to have the issue gone and not ruin his reelection chances. He got played. Birx, not Fauci, was the architect of the lockdowns.
-Birx had a cozy relationship with Pence going way back. Pence was her defensive lineman, giving her cover to enact a pro-restriction agenda. Pence was put in charge of the COVID task force. Pence basically deferred to her running it.
-The reason the lockdowns were structured the way they were was because it had to be sold to Trump that we weren't doing China or even Italy. For example, Birx settled on 10 people per gathering because that would stop superspreader events like weddings and funerals but her real number was zero, but she didn't think it would be palatable to the Trump admin.
-By summer, the jig was up and Trump realized he had been played. Trump sloshed around looking an advisor to help him understand it so brought in Scott Atlas. Scott Atlas' entrance on the seen is why we didn't have further lockdowns (at first informally and then joining the admin). He and Birx were instantly at war and Birx went around, with full cover from Pence, individually to the governors to try and get them to extend the restrictions. Atlas's main deficiency was he didn't know how the bureaucratic game was played, while Birx with years working in government was very adept at it.
-Birx worked to actively undermine the admin's position, entering into an alliance with Fauci and Redfield against Atlas (each pledging to resign if any one of them was fired or moved over). When instructed to change messaging from the admin, she'd often just rework it to hide whatever messaging she wanted included. She practically fesses up and is proud that she worked to undermine the Trump admin's decision from within because she disagreed with them.