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(CNN) – President Donald Trump will emerge from his forced isolation by covid-19 this Saturday to give a speech from a White House balcony, according to a government official. This will allow the public an independent glimpse in days of a leader recovering from the coronavirus.
Hundreds of people have been invited to the White House for the event. This despite concerns over a ceremony in late September in the Rose Garden that may have been the nexus of a viral outbreak that has swept through Trump’s staff.
This time, the president will not be near the guests who attend. But the prospect of hosting another big gathering as the contagion spreads has already raised concern among some Trump aides.
A source with knowledge of the planning indicated that attendees must bring masks and meet temperature controls.
Now a Trump campaign rally is also scheduled in Florida on Monday night. The event will take place in an airport hangar in Sanford, Florida, just outside of Orlando.
Since returning to the White House on Monday night, Trump has not been seen in public. In a series of lengthy phone interviews, he said he is ready to end his covid-19 isolation and return to the campaign. This despite the lack of clarity about his medical condition, the lack of independent information on his physical condition, and warnings from health experts that the virus is likely still spreading.
Trump, distraught over his greatly weakened political position weeks before the election, has implored his aides and his medical team to allow him to return to the campaign. On Thursday he said he was planning rallies for this Saturday. However, attendees downplayed the possibility of organizing such a quick event and said that there are currently no trips planned for this weekend.
Fauci warned of a super spread event days ago at the White House
Instead, the South Lawn event was organized as a means for the president to address his supporters and show the country that he is well enough to restart the campaign. The choice of the White House is shocking, given that the last big event they organized there, the ceremony in the Rose Garden where the appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court was announced, has been linked to multiple infections by covid-19.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, on Friday called Barrett’s ceremony a “super spread event.”
“It was in a situation where people were very close and it was without wearing masks. So the data speaks for itself, ”Fauci said in an interview with CBS Radio.
Trump offered phone interviews this week, including one that ran through noon Friday with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. It was Trump’s third phone conversation with a friendly outlet since Thursday. And he’s scheduled additional interviews for the weekend.
Changes in temperament and opinion
Inside the White House, Trump has tempestuously changed his mind on issues such as whether he will participate in the next presidential debate or whether he will negotiate with Democrats on another stimulus package.
“I don’t think the debates mean that much,” Trump told Limbaugh. This despite the fact that his campaign was pressuring the Presidential Debate Commission to organize a face-to-face event next week.
Before the call, Trump wrote on Twitter that the “Covid Relief Negotiations are moving forward.” He did so despite abruptly cutting off conversations with Democrats a few days earlier. This measure caused the stock to fall, which scared the president.
All this has given the impression of a leader and a government in a new state of confusion, even for a term marked by chaos. Some of Trump’s aides have speculated that his wild temperament and decision swings are related to his medical condition, and specifically his use of dexamethasone, the steroid he took as part of his treatment for the coronavirus.
Few advisers have seen Trump in person
Trump has been conducting most of his activities by phone, as officials avoid close contact with him. Those who received his calls consistently described him as “optimistic.” Yet that has not been evident in his anger-filled interviews on Fox News and Fox Business, in which he angrily lashed out at both his political rivals and senior members of his own administration’s cabinet.
Since Trump returned from the hospital on Monday, only a few high-ranking officials have seen him in person as he works from the residence of the White House and the Oval Office. While offices were arranged for him on the lower level of the executive mansion, Trump found them wanting (he complained several times about his phone during an interview Thursday morning on Fox Business) and insisted on returning to the Oval Office.
Among the attendees who met him were White House Secretary General Mark Meadows, social media adviser Dan Scavino and his senior adviser Jared Kushner, who was with Trump in the Oval Office Thursday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also joined to discuss the economic stimulus talks he leads on Capitol Hill.
Trump has been evaluated by members of the medical team and continues to have a Secret Service detachment. They all wear yellow robes, plastic goggles, and N95 masks when around him.
But the circle of people who have seen him in person since Monday is very small. Its staff has been kept to a minimum to avoid contagion, but also because many of its assistants have been infected with the coronavirus.
Some of Trump’s inner circle are still in recovery
Members of Trump’s inner circle who would normally interact with him multiple times a day – including advisers Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller, and Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany – are recovering from the coronavirus at home. His daughter, Ivanka Trump, is also in home quarantine, although there is no information that she has the virus.
Vice President Mike Pence, who had been traveling this week near his appearance in the debate, returned to Washington earlier than planned Thursday. But he was not expected to meet with Trump in person.
In a series of videos released by the White House, Trump was optimistic, but at times he seemed to have trouble catching his breath. She was also wearing a lot of makeup. The videos, shot Wednesday on the White House grounds, appeared lightly edited.
Interviews, virtual meeting and discussion about photo shoot
The circle of people who have seen Trump is likely to expand this Friday. He will participate in his first in-person interview since contracting the coronavirus with Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News medical analyst. Siegel interviewed Trump over the summer when he defended his cognitive abilities by reciting a sequence he claimed to have memorized during a test.
Still, the interview will be conducted remotely, so it’s unclear who will actually see Trump in person.
Attendees were also discussing the possibility of some kind of outdoor photo shoot that could put an end to concerns about their physical condition. But the plans were still preliminary and nothing had been decided.
Trump will also participate in a virtual midday rally with conservative host Rush Limbaugh. His campaign describes it as the “largest virtual rally in the history of radio.”
Trump’s medical part
On Thursday night, Trump had his second phone interview with Fox that day. The conversation coincided with a new memo from his physician, Dr. Sean Conley, which read, “I fully look forward to the president’s return to public participation” by Saturday.
Trump took that as a sign that he was authorized to re-organize rallies, even as he stopped several times during the interview to cough or catch his breath.
The next morning, his press secretary called Fox from his own coronavirus isolation to question whether a rally could be organized as quickly as Saturday.
“He wants to be out there and logistically, if tomorrow is possible, it would be difficult,” McEnany said. “It would be a campaign decision, but logistically, we are just trying to keep up with the president who is ready to go, ready to leave as soon as he gets the go-ahead from his doctor,” he added.
It was unclear when Trump would be retested and if those results would be released publicly. The White House has repeatedly refused to say when he last tested negative, raising questions about the chronology of his illness.
Conley said Thursday that Saturday would be the 10th day of Trump’s illness. However, he had previously said that Monday was the day he would feel comfortable with the president being out of the woods.
Jim Acosta and Kaitlan Collins, both from CNN, contributed to this report.
