Trump tests positive for coronavirus Nine months after Covid-19 hit the United States, the president who downplayed the virus in its early stages became the world’s highest-profile victim of a disease that has killed more than 1 million people
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for the first presidential debate, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, in Cleveland. | AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump announced early Friday that he tested positive for coronavirus, upending his presidency and the 2020 race just 32 days before Election Day.
The 74-year-old president disclosed his diagnosis in a tweet at 12:54 a.m. on Friday, hours after news broke that top aide Hope Hicks had tested positive.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19,” he tweeted, referencing First Lady Melania Trump. “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!“
Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said in a memo that the president and first lady were “both well“ and that Trump would continue to carry out his duties as president. Conley did not mention whether Trump was exhibiting any symptoms, but a person familiar with the situation said the president was not showing symptoms yet on Thursday. Still, Vice President Mike Pence may need to step in for some tasks if Trump is confined to the White House grounds, the person said.
The announcement threatens to transform the final month of a volatile campaign that Trump long intended to frame around a message of success in defeating the virus — despite surging case counts in parts of the country, shuttered schools and businesses and widespread division about the seriousness of the threat. “I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight, and next year will be one of the greatest years in the history of our country,” he said Thursday evening in a videotaped message to the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner.
Trump’s announcement raised a slew of questions about whether his existing health conditions — he is just over the line between overweight and obese — will put him at an increased risk of developing serious complications from the coronavirus. During his last physical, Trump’s doctor said the president “remains healthy,” with a cholesterol level and blood pressure within normal ranges. He does, however, take medication for prior issues with high cholesterol.
Earlier this year Trump was closely monitored in case he developed an irregular heartbeat while he took a two-week course of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug he touted early on, despite no conclusive evidence, as a possible treatment for coronavirus.
Melania Trump, 50, also falls within an age range with high risk of complications. The virus can have wide-ranging impact on different people, even at advanced age, from relatively mild symptoms to devastating breathing problems.
“Karen and I send our love and prayers to our dear friends President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania Trump,” Pence tweeted early Friday. “We join millions across America praying for their full and swift recovery. God bless you President Trump & our wonderful First Lady Melania.”
Trump made the announcement shortly after news broke that Hicks had tested positive. Hicks, who holds the senior title of counselor to the president, had traveled with Trump on Tuesday for his debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden in Cleveland. She showed symptoms and got her test result early Thursday, but few people in the White House knew about it until later in the afternoon, according to the person familiar with the situation.
She was seen traveling Tuesday on Air Force One without a mask.She also traveled with the president during his rally in Minnesota on Wednesday.
Only a small group of White House officials were aware of Hicks’ positive diagnosis Thursday morning, and later in the day news spread to more aides inside the West Wing.
Still, business at the White House continued. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany held a press briefing in the late morning, and in the afternoon the president flew to his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J., for a fundraising roundtable and reception with high-dollar donors. The president traveled with a smaller group of aides for the short trip, including John McEntee and deputy press secretary Judd Deere.
Minutes after Trump’s tweet, the White House canceled the president’s travel plans — he had been scheduled to attend a rally in Florida on Friday night. His other weekend events, including rallies in Wisconsin, which is struggling with a surge in cases, were also expected to be canceled.
It‘s unclear how long the president would be confined to the White House. The White House has required other officials who tested positive for the virus to have a week without symptoms and two negative test results before returning to work. The next presidential debate is set for Oct. 15.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone who has the coronavirus to self-isolate and “separate themselves from others by staying in a specific ‘sick room’ or area.” For symptomatic individuals, the agency recommends staying isolated until 10 days after symptoms first appear and at least a full day after a fever has died down and other symptoms are improving. For asymptomatic individuals, it recommends simply waiting until 10 days have passed since the date of the positive test.
Trump had already been under fire for downplaying the virus in its earliest months and throughout the year. He told journalist Bob Woodward in February that he was “playing it down” even though it was possibly five times “more deadly” than the flu. Publicly, however, he was comparing Covid-19 to the flu and assuring the public that “like a miracle, it will disappear.”
Trump has long faced criticism for his cavalier approach toward coronavirus precautions. His campaign rallies often feature large crowds of supporters tightly packed together, many without masks. He has also resumed indoor campaign events, even though health officials advise against crowded enclosed spaces. During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in late August, a legion of supporters gathered on the White House grounds, many without masks.
Trump also has vacillated on his public support for basic coronavirus safety guidelines, such as wearing a mask when out in public and around other people. He’s railed against mask mandates that several cities have enforced but insists he wears masks “when needed.”
At this week’s debate, Trump even mocked Biden for wearing masks so often. “I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from ‘em and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
Trump stood only feet away from Biden at the Tuesday debate — where multiple members of Trump’s entourage declined to wear masks, despite requests from the staff hosting the event.
As news reports swirled Thursday night about Hicks’ diagnosis, Trump expressed sympathy for her during an interview with Fox News‘ Sean Hannity and said thathe and the first lady had been tested for the virus. “We‘ll see what happens, but who knows?“ Trump said.
During that interview, Trump said members of the military and law enforcement often want to “hug you and they want to kiss you because we really have done a good job for them.“ Trump said that it‘s hard to turn them down and that Hicks often receives them warmly.
Prior to her current role, Hicks served as White House communications director and on the 2016 Trump campaign’s press team.
Trump’s infection is just the latest example that the novel coronavirus does not discriminate — numerous world leaders have contracted the disease. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent three nights in intensive care after he contracted the virus and experienced trouble breathing. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro also tested positive over the summer.
The virus has similarly infiltrated elite political circles. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife tested positive after attending a large event in London. Elsewhere, the Australian home affairs minister and Iran’s deputy health minister were just two of scores of government officials who have been infected since the pandemic’s outbreak.
Still, Trump’s diagnosis will raise serious questions about whether the White House’s coronavirus protocols were adequate — and whether the West Wing took the threat of the virus seriously enough.
Hicks was one of the most senior aides to the president to have tested positive for the virus. National security adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for the virus in July, as did a number of Secret Service agents. Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Vice President Mike Pence, tested positive in May, and a Brazilian dinner companion of the president tested positive back in March.
In the wake of the earlier diagnoses of Pence’s spokesperson and the military valet, the White House stepped up its protocol by increasing the frequency of its testing of the president, vice president and their top aides. The White House press office said staffers also regularly deep cleaned workspaces and did regular temperature checks of anyone around the president.
McEnany, the White House press secretary, said over the summer that the president was tested frequently for the virus. White House staffers were also notified in August that they would be subject to random coronavirus screenings.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement on Thursday night: “White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the President is traveling.“
“The President takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously,“ the statement said.
Daniel Lippman and David Lim contributed to this report.
