Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of President Trump’s eldest son and one of the top fundraising officials for Trump’s re-election campaign, tested positive for the coronavirus on the Friday before a July 4 event at Mount Rushmore, said a person familiar with his condition.
Guilfoyle traveled to South Dakota with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., in anticipation of attending a large fireworks display where the President was willing to speak. They did not travel aboard Air Force One, according to the person familiar with her condition, and she was the only person in the group who tested positive.
As a routine precaution, people who come into close contact with Trump are screened for the virus.
Guilfoyle is the third person in possible proximity to Mr. Trump who is known to have contracted the virus. A personal valet who served Mr. Trump his food and Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for the virus in May.
Ms. Guilfoyle was experiencing no symptoms, said the person familiar with her condition. She and young Trump never encountered the President’s entourage, the person said. As a precaution, the couple plans to return from South Dakota to the east coast, the person said.
Still, another person expected to be close to Trump has likely tested positive, and someone most staff assistants consider a member of the Trump family to renew attention on the potential risks to the President.
Ms. Guilfoyle attended Mr. Trump’s indoor rally last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Before and since, some members of the field and Secret Service personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus. Herman Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate who was also at the rally, said this week that he had been hospitalized with the virus.
Despite outbreaks in the south and west, and states across the country reporting a record number of cases each day, White House officials, and Mr. Trump in particular, have downplayed their focus on the virus in public appearances. In an interview Wednesday, the president said he believed the virus “was going to go away.”
The aides to the president recently modified protocols for people entering the White House grounds, abandoning routine temperature controls, for example. People experiencing typical coronavirus symptoms have been advised to stay away.
But people who get close to Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence still get tested for the coronavirus.
