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The source’s assessment of the Republican president’s medical condition came after a team of doctors told reporters at a press conference on Saturday (local time) that he was “very well.”
One of those doctors said Trump had told them “‘I feel like I could get out of here today.’
The source, who asked not to be named, said the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of Trump’s attention.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows later said Trump was “very well” and that doctors were satisfied with his vital signs.
“The president is doing very well. He is awake and asks for documents to review. Doctors are very satisfied with his vital signs. Today I have met with him multiple times on a variety of topics,” Meadows told Reuters.
Trump (74) left the White House and was transferred to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near Washington on Friday, just hours after he was diagnosed with Covid-19.
The New York Times said the decision to transport Trump to the hospital came after he experienced shortness of breath and his oxygen level dropped, prompting his doctors to give him supplemental oxygen, according to two sources who, according to the newspaper, they were near the White House.
White House physician Sean P. Conley told reporters outside the hospital Saturday that Trump had not experienced shortness of breath and that Walter Reed was not given oxygen.
“The team and I are very pleased with the progress the president has made,” Conley said. She declined to give a timeline for Trump’s possible release from the hospital.
Trump tweeted praise for the Walter Reed medical staff and other institutions that have joined them, saying they are “amazing” and that, with their help, “I feel good!”
The White House has said that Trump will work in a special suite at the hospital for the next few days as a precaution. He had no public events scheduled for Saturday.
The diagnosis was the latest setback for the Republican president, who is trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden in opinion polls ahead of the November 3 presidential election.
Trump has downplayed the threat of the coronavirus pandemic from the start, even as the disease has killed more than 200,000 Americans and hit the American economy.
Conley said Trump had received a first dose of a five-day course of Remdesivir, an intravenous antiviral drug sold by Gilead Sciences Inc that has been shown to shorten hospital stays. He’s also taking an experimental treatment, Regeneron’s REGN-COV2, one of several experimental COVID-19 drugs known as monoclonal antibodies, as well as zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin, and aspirin, Conley said.
Trump announced on Twitter early Friday that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, had contracted the virus.
You are at high risk because of your age and weight. He has remained apparently in good health during his time in office, but he is not known to exercise regularly or eat a healthy diet.
Several other prominent Republicans have also said they tested positive for COVID-19 since Trump’s announcement, including Republican Senators Mike Lee, Thom Tillis and Ron Johnson, former White House Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. .
Vice President Mike Pence, who will assume presidential duties if Trump becomes seriously ill, tested negative, a spokesman said. The 61-year-old former Indiana governor works from his own residence about three miles from the White House.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 in April, told reporters on Saturday that he had no doubt that Trump will make a strong recovery.
“He’s naturally a very tough character, obviously, and I’m sure he’ll get through it really well,” Johnson said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message to Trump and his wife on Saturday, wishing them a speedy recovery, Chinese state television said.
Election day is coming
The Trump campaign suspended in-person campaign events involving the president or his family on Friday. But Pence will continue to mull over the president, and the Trump campaign said Saturday that Pence will host an event on October 8 in Peoria, Arizona.
Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, also tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and will work from home, according to a senior campaign official.
Biden pulled the ads attacking Trump from the air, but otherwise continued his campaign, traveling to Michigan on Friday after testing negative for the virus.
In a Twitter post on Saturday, Biden urged Americans to don masks. “Don’t just do it for yourself. Do it for the people you love.”
Pence’s Oct. 7 debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris will proceed as planned, organizers said.
The virus could complicate Trump’s drive to install conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court.
Lee and Tillis are members of the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to begin hearings on Barrett’s nomination on October 12.
On Saturday, US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that all Senate activity would be rescheduled until after Oct. 19, but that the committee’s work, including Barrett’s confirmation hearing, would continue.
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