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BETHESDA, Maryland (AP) – President Donald Trump made a dramatic return to the White House Monday night after leaving the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19. He immediately ignited a new controversy by declaring that despite his illness, the nation should not fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans, then entered the White House without a protective mask.
Trump’s message alarmed infectious disease experts and suggested that the president’s own illness had not caused him to reconsider his often arrogant attitude toward the disease, which has also infected the first lady and several White House aides, including new cases revealed Monday.
Landing at the White House on Marine One, Trump cautiously climbed the steps of the South Portico, removed his mask, and declared, “I feel fine.” He gave a thumbs-up to the helicopter departing from the porch deck, where the aides had arranged the American flags for sunset. He entered the White House, where assistants were seen walking around the Blue Room, without covering their faces.
The president left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where his doctor, the Commander of the Navy. Sean Conley said earlier Monday that the president remains contagious and will not be completely “out of the woods” for another week, but that Trump had met or exceeded the standards for discharge from the hospital. Trump is expected to continue his recovery in the White House, where the extent of the outbreak that has infected the highest levels of the United States government is still being uncovered.
Still, just a month before the election and eager to project strength, Trump tweeted before leaving the hospital: “I’ll be back to the election campaign soon !!!” And in case anyone missed his message of don’t worry, he posted a new video from the White House.
“Don’t be afraid of it,” Trump said of the virus. “You are going to beat him. We have the best medical team, we have the best medicines ”. His comments were strong, but he was breathing more deeply than usual as he spoke them.
Trump’s nonchalant message about not being afraid of the virus comes as his own administration has encouraged Americans to be very careful and take precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the disease as cases continue to rise across the country. For more than eight months, Trump’s efforts to downplay the virus threat in hopes of propping up the economy ahead of the election have drawn bipartisan criticism.
“We have to be realistic on this: COVID is a complete threat to the American population,” Dr. David Nace of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said of Trump’s comment.
“Most people are not as lucky as the president,” with an in-house medical unit and access to experimental treatments, added Nace, an expert on infections in older adults.
“It’s an inconceivable message,” agreed Dr. Sadiya Khan of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “I would dare to say that it can precipitate or worsen the spread.”
Similarly, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who spent more than 90 minutes on stage in the debate with Trump last week, said during an NBC town hall Monday night that he was glad Trump seemed to be on the mend. “But there is a lot to worry about. Some 210,000 people have died. I hope no one walks away with the message that it is not a problem.” Biden tested negative for the virus on Sunday.
There was also pushback from a prominent Trump political supporter.
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas told the Houston Chronicle editorial board that Trump had “let his guard down” in his effort to show that the country was moving beyond the virus and had created “confusion” about how to stay safe.
Conley said that because of Trump’s unusual level of treatment so soon after the discovery of his illness, he was in “uncharted territory.” But the doctor was also optimistic in an afternoon briefing, saying the president could resume his normal schedule once “there is no evidence of live virus still present.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 can be contagious for up to and should be isolated for at least 10 days.
Trump’s arrival in the White House raised new questions about how the administration was going to protect other officials from a disease that remains pervasive in the president’s body. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced that she had tested positive for the virus on Monday morning and was entering self-quarantine.
There were also lingering questions about the possible long-term effects for the president, and even when he first contracted the virus.
Conley repeatedly refused to share the results of Trump’s lung medical scans and said he was not at liberty to discuss the information because Trump did not waive doctor-patient confidentiality on the matter. COVID-19 is known to cause significant damage to the lungs of some patients. Conley also declined to share the date of Trump’s most recent negative test for the virus, a tipping point for tracing contacts and understanding where Trump was in the course of the disease.
Just a day earlier, Trump suggested he had finally grasped the true nature of the virus, saying in a video, “I get it.” But on Sunday afternoon, he ventured out of the hospital while contagious to greet supporters in a caravan, an outing that ignored precautions meant to contain the virus.
At the hospital, doctors revealed that her blood oxygen level had suddenly dropped twice in recent days and that they gave her a steroid normally only recommended for the very sick.
Trump’s experience with the disease has been dramatically different from that of most Americans, who do not have access to the same kind of control and care. While most must deal with their symptoms, and the fear that they will get worse, at home and alone, Trump has been staying in the presidential suite of one of the best hospitals in the country and has not easily received experimental drugs. available to the public. He returns to the White House, where there is a team of doctors on duty with 24-hour monitoring.
Trump was leaving the hospital after receiving a fourth dose of the antiviral drug remdesivir on Monday night, Conley said. She will receive the fifth and final dose on Tuesday at the White House.
Vice President Mike Pence returned to the election campaign moments after Trump announced that he would soon be leaving the hospital. The vice president boarded Air Force Two to fly to Salt Lake City, where he will face Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday.
Trump, in his new video, defended his decision to repeatedly disobey his own administration’s guidelines to curb the spread of the virus, including by holding rallies with thousands of fans, mostly without a mask.
Apparently referring to any potential danger to himself and not to others, he said: “I stayed up front. I led. No one who is a leader would not do what I did. “He added,” And I know there is a risk, there is a danger. But it’s okay. And now I’m better. And maybe I’m immune, I don’t know. “
Even before the departure of Trump’s caravan on Sunday, some Secret Service agents had raised concerns about the nonchalant attitude towards masks and social distancing within the White House, but there is not much they can do, according to agents and officials who spoke to The Associated Press.
Trump’s aggressive course of treatment included the steroid dexamethasone and the single dose he was given Friday of an experimental drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. that supplies antibodies to help the immune system fight the virus. Trump also began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug currently used for patients with moderate and severe illnesses, on Friday. Medications work in different ways: Antibodies help the immune system remove the virus from the body, and remdesivir slows the virus’ ability to multiply.
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Miller and Colvin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard and Jonathan Lemire in Washington, and Bill Barrow in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.
