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“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through it TOGETHER!” Trump tweeted shortly before 1 a.m. Friday.
In a memo sent to reporters around 1 a.m. ET, the president’s physician, Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, wrote that he received confirmation of the positive tests Thursday night.
“The President and First Lady are doing well at the moment and plan to stay home inside the White House during their convalescence,” Conley wrote.
“The White House medical team and I will keep a vigilant watch, and I appreciate the support provided by some of the best medical professionals and institutions in our country,” Conley wrote, without elaborating on the assistance that was being provided to the White House.
“Please be assured that I look to the President to continue to serve without interruption while he recovers, and I will keep you informed of any new developments,” he wrote.
The president had said late Thursday night that he planned to self-quarantine after one of his closest aides tested positive for the infection.
“Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a little break, just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are awaiting the results of our tests. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process. ! ” “Trump tweeted Thursday night.
Hicks has traveled with the president several times recently, including the debate in Cleveland on Tuesday, and was seen boarding Marine One, along with several other of the president’s closest aides, Jared Kushner, Dan Scavino and Nicholas Luna, none of whom who wore masks on Wednesday when Trump was addressing a campaign rally in Minnesota.
“She tested positive, I just found out about this. She tested positive. She is a great worker. Lots of masks, wears many masks but she tested positive. Then I came out with a test. I’ll see … you know, because we spent a lot of time, and the first lady also came out with a test. So if we quarantine ourselves or if we have it, I don’t know, “Trump said during a phone visit on Fox News’s” Hannity. “
He added, “I just got a test run and we’ll see what happens, I mean, who knows … I spent a lot of time with Hope and also the first lady, and she is tremendous.”
The news of Hicks’s positive test comes amid the Trump administration’s continued efforts to blatantly ignore science and public health best practices during the pandemic, with West Wing staff actively avoiding the masks and the president challenging the recommendations of his own coronavirus task force, proceeding with a busy schedule of packed campaign rallies. Trump and his key aides have shown little interest in changing their staff practices to meet the needs of the moment.
Trump, in his interview with Fox News, speculated that Hicks may have contracted the virus from an interaction with a supporter.
“He is a very warm person. She has a hard time, when soldiers and law enforcement approach her, you know, she wants to treat them well, not say, ‘Stay away, I can’t get near you.’ It is a very, very hard disease, “she said.
A source close to Hicks told CNN that he is experiencing symptoms and is back in Washington. A source familiar with Hicks’s symptoms describes her as sore and feeling pretty bad. CNN has reached out to Hicks for comment.
“The President takes the health and safety of himself and of all who work in support of him and the American people very seriously,” White House spokesman Judd Deere told CNN in a statement when He was asked about the level of contact between Hicks and Trump.
The White House did not mention Hicks by name or confirm that he had tested positive.
“White House Operations collaborates with the President’s Physician and the White House Military Office to ensure that all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices to limit exposure to COVID-19 in the greatest possible measure both in the complex and when the President is away. “Deere added.
Some White House staff in close proximity were notified today of the positive test result, an official said.
Long seen as a stabilizing force for a boss who likes chaos, Hicks joined the Trump Organization working on public relations with Ivanka Trump and moved into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign early in the race. She was one of the few assistants who followed him from his political beginnings to the White House.
Hicks maintained a close relationship not only with the president, but also with members of his family, including White House advisers Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. She previously served as the White House communications director.
Hicks’ positive test underscores the unique challenge White House employees face as they try to keep the pandemic out of the West Wing as the president pushes to reopen the country.
Trump has previously expressed concern that attendees who contract coronavirus undermine his message that the outbreak is waning and states should speed up the reopening, according to a person who had spoken with him.
Since then, the White House has done everything it can to protect Trump and Vice President Mike Pence from the outbreak, even as they travel to states where cases are increasing.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany previously described Trump as the “most proven man in America,” who does not risk passing the virus on to others. But Trump contradicted that claim hours later, saying he doesn’t know at one time that more than one coronavirus test has been performed in a day.
“I don’t know more than one,” Trump responded to a reporter who asked why he was being tested more than once a day. “I probably do a test on average every two days, three days, and I don’t know if I have taken two in one day, but I could see that would happen.”
This story has been updated with additional news on Thursday night and Friday morning.
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
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