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US President Donald Trump steps off Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2020, following campaign events in New Jersey. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump said early Friday that he and First Lady Melania tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get out of this TOGETHER! ”Trump tweeted.
Trump’s official physician, Sean Conley, said in a statement that the president and his wife “are doing well at this time and plan to stay home in the White House during their convalescence.”
Conley said: “I hope the President will continue to serve without interruption while he recovers.”
Close helper catches virus
The shocking news came just after it was reported Thursday that one of Trump’s closest advisers, Hope Hicks, contracted the virus.
Hicks traveled with Trump to Cleveland for his first debate with Democrat Joe Biden on Tuesday. She was with him again for a campaign rally in Minnesota on Wednesday.
With Hicks sharing Trump’s Air Force One plane and the even narrower confines of the Marine One helicopter, speculation immediately arose that Trump and possibly many others in his close entourage were exposed.
Despite Hicks’ diagnosis, Trump took another Air Force One trip Thursday to meet with donors in New Jersey.
It was only Thursday night that Trump confirmed the media reports on Hicks while giving an interview to Fox News. He announced that he had been tested, but did not say whether he had received the results.
“You know I spend a lot of time with Hope, and also the first lady,” Trump said.
Pink view
Trump says the United States has left behind the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans, and rarely wears a mask, noting that it receives frequent testing.
Yet its own health experts have often given less optimistic assessments of the state of the pandemic in the world’s richest country.
And Trump has been heavily criticized for large rallies where few fans wear masks. He himself has given mixed signals to the public about the need to wear masks.
By contrast, Biden has run a low-key campaign with social distancing at most events, without large gatherings, and with conspicuous use of his mask wherever he goes.
White House spokesman Judd Deere previously said: “The President takes the health and safety of himself and all who work to support him and the American people very seriously.”
Deere said the White House makes sure to follow procedures “to limit exposure to COVID-19 to the greatest extent possible, both in the compound and when the president is away.”
Earlier Friday, the White House canceled Trump’s planned campaign rally in the crucial state of Florida later that day.
It also seemed certain that Trump would have to cancel a trip scheduled for this weekend in Wisconsin, another battlefield. He was also expected to travel frequently next week, including longer distances to western states.
A second televised debate with Biden is scheduled for October 15.
/ MUF
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