Trump, who has spent much of the year downplaying the threat of a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans, said he and Ms. Trump were in quarantine. The White House doctor said the president is expected to continue to carry out his duties “without interruption” while he recovers. A White House official said Friday morning that the president was experiencing mild symptoms but was working from the White House residence.
Trump’s diagnosis would surely have a destabilizing effect in Washington and around the world, raising questions about the extent to which the virus had spread to the highest levels of the US government. Hours before Trump announced he had contracted the virus, the White House said a senior aide who had traveled with him during the week had tested positive.
“Tonight, (at) FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately,” Trump tweeted just before 1am. “We will get out of this TOGETHER!”
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately.… Https://t.co/CIIB2LDQtr
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 1601614446000
Vice President Mike Pence tested negative for the virus on Friday morning and “remains in good health,” his spokesman said.
Many senior White House and administration officials were tested on Friday, but the full scale of the outbreak around the president may not be known for some time, as it can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test. Officials from the White House Medical Unit were still in the process of tracing the president’s contacts, the official said.
Trump was last seen by journalists returning to the White House Thursday night and did not appear visibly ill. Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk for serious complications from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people across the country.
The president’s doctor said in a memo that Trump and the first lady, who is 50, “are doing well right now” and “plan to stay home inside the White House during their convalescence.”
The diagnosis marks a devastating blow for a president who has been desperately trying to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. At best, if you don’t have symptoms, which can include fever, cough, and respiratory problems, it will likely force you to leave the campaign just weeks before the election and place your participation in the second presidential debate, scheduled for October. 15 in Miami, in doubt.
Trump’s handling of the pandemic has already been a major flash point in his run against Democrat Joe Biden, who spent much of the summer off campaign and at his home in Delaware due to the virus. Since then, Biden has resumed a more active campaign program, but with small and socially distant crowds. He also regularly wears a mask in public, something Trump mocked him for in Tuesday night’s debate.
“I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said of Biden. “Every time you see him, he has a mask on. He could be talking 200 feet from me, and he appears with the largest mask I have ever seen.”
In a tweet on Friday morning, Biden said he and his wife “send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a speedy recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the President and his family.” Vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her husband tweeted similar sentiments.
It was not immediately clear if the former vice president had been vetted since he appeared in the debate with Trump or if he was taking any additional security protocol. Trump and Biden did not shake hands during the debate, but they ran out of masks about 10 feet apart during the 90-minute event.
World leaders offered the president and the first family their best wishes after his diagnosis, as governments used his case as a reminder for their citizens to wear masks and practice social distancing measures.
On Friday, Trump was scheduled to receive an intelligence briefing, attend a fundraiser and hold another campaign rally in Sanford, Florida. But shortly after 1 a.m., the White House released a revised calendar with only one event: a phone call on “Covid-19 Support for Vulnerable Seniors.”
Trump’s announcement came hours after he confirmed that Hope Hicks, one of his longest-serving and most trusted aides, had been diagnosed with the virus on Thursday. Hicks began to feel mild symptoms during the plane ride home from a rally in Minnesota Wednesday night, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal private information. She was isolated from other passengers on board the plane, the person said.
Hicks had been with Trump and other senior personnel aboard Marine One and Air Force One en route to that rally and had accompanied the president to Tuesday’s presidential debate in Cleveland, along with members of the Trump family. The Trump contingent removed their masks during the debate, in violation of the rules of the place.
Several White House staff members have previously tested positive for the virus, including Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller, national security adviser Robert O’Brien and one of the president’s personal aides.
But Trump has consistently downplayed concerns about being personally vulnerable, even after White House staff and their allies were exposed and sick. Since the coronavirus emerged earlier this year, Trump has refused to abide by basic public health guidelines, including those issued by his own administration, such as covering his face in public and practicing social distancing. Instead, he has continued to hold campaign rallies that draw thousands of followers, often without a mask.
“I didn’t feel any vulnerability,” he told reporters in May.
The news is sure to shake an already shaken nation that is still grappling with how to safely reopen the economy without fueling transmission of the virus. The White House has access to nearly unlimited resources, including a steady supply of quick-result tests, yet it still failed to keep the president safe, raising questions about how the rest of the country will be able to protect its workers, students, and children. citizens. public how to reopen businesses and schools. US equity futures fell on the news of Trump’s diagnosis.
Questions remain about why it took Trump so long to get tested and why he and his assistants continued to go to work and travel after Hicks fell ill. Trump traveled to New Jersey on Thursday for a fundraiser, which could expose attendees to the virus. Trump’s social media director Dan Scavino and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who were originally scheduled to join him on the trip, were replaced at the last minute by other attendees.
McEnany briefed the press Thursday morning while Hicks was suspected of having the virus, but did not offer a public word on the case near the president.
It’s unclear where the Trumps and Hicks may have contracted the virus, but in his interview with Fox, Trump seemed to suggest that it may have been spread by someone in the military or law enforcement.
“It’s very, very difficult when you are with people from the military or law enforcement, and they come up to you and want to hug you and want to kiss you,” he said, “because we really did. A good job for them. You get closer. And things happen. ”
Several members of Trump’s cabinet were tested for Covid-19 on Friday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, fourth in line for the presidency, tested negative shortly before landing in Croatia. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also tested negative, while Attorney General William Barr was due to take a test Friday morning.
The White House began instituting a daily testing regimen for the president’s top advisers after previous positive cases close to the president. Anyone close to the president or vice president is also tested every day, including journalists.
However, since the early days of the pandemic, experts have questioned the White House health and safety protocols and asked why more was not being done to protect the commander-in-chief. Trump continued to shake hands with visitors long after public health officials warned him, and initially resisted being tested.
Trump is far from the first world leader to test positive for the virus, which previously infected Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spent a week in hospital, including three nights in intensive care. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized last month while battling what he called a “ hellish ” case of COVID-19.
While there is currently no indication that Trump is seriously ill, the positive test raises questions about what would happen if he became incapacitated due to illness.
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution details the procedures under which the president can declare himself “incapable of fulfilling the powers and duties” of the presidency. If he made that call, Trump would transmit a written note to Senate President pro tempore, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. Pence would serve as acting president until Trump issued “a written statement to the contrary.”
The vice president and a majority of the cabinet or other statutory body may also declare the president incapable of fulfilling the powers and duties of his office, in which case Pence will “immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as interim president” until Trump may provide a written statement to the contrary.
.
