The President proceeded to hear some of these interactions.
“My son, Sir, was in Iraq to tell me a story about him,” he said. ‘Or,’ He was in Afghanistan. ‘ And, ‘Sir, he did this, and he did that, and then he charged his friends to save him.’ And, ‘Yes sir, he was killed, but he saved his friends. He is very brave, sir. ‘
Trump explained that while these stories were being told about fallen soldiers, “I can’t say, ‘Back up, stand 10 feet,’ you know?” I can’t do that right now. “
At one event, Trump claimed that “like 35 people,” his family members died, “and everyone had a different story.”
“Maria, I can’t back up and say,‘ Give me space. I would like a room. Give me 12 feet. Stay 12 feet away when you talk. ” He said.
Members of the Gold Star family “come within an inch of my face,” Trump said. “They want to hug me, and they want to kiss me. And they do. And, frankly, I’m not asking them to back up. I’m not doing. “
It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. The White House refused to give a specific timeline for the president’s coronavirus tests in the days following his diagnosis.
In addition to the meetings the president described on Thursday, he has held large-scale campaign rallies in recent months, where attendees do not practice social-distance and many of his supporters do not wear face masks.
Trump also presided over a packed, mostly masked White House Rose Garden ceremony last month, where he appointed Supreme Court Justice Amy Connie Barrett.
The ceremony, which was attended by numerous administration officials and members of Congress, has since been known as a potential super-spreader event.
Trump’s remarks on Thursday were likely in the context of a Sept. 27 White House event celebrating Gold Star families, which was also attended by several high-ranking military leaders.
Among them was Charles Ray, Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard Adam, who tested positive on Monday – he asked one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for self-quarantine this week after meeting in a safe conference room at the Pentagon last Friday.
Assistant Marine Commandant General Gary Thomas, another high-ranking official at the Pentagon meeting, tested positive on Wednesday.
None of the other military leaders who met with Ray on Friday tested positive, and the Pentagon says he is capable of doing his job despite being different.
All of the top leaders who contacted Ray last week will be re-tested on Friday. Yet defense officials are now saying that the Pentagon will no longer release negative test results, only positive ones.
The president had earlier last Thursday unveiled a theory that infected service members and law enforcement officials were potentially responsible for White House aide Asha Hawks for a positive test for Covid-19.
Hicks was clearly diagnosed with a wave of infections that consumed the White House, insulted presidential membership, and sparked a new outbreak in the nation’s capital.
“She’s amazing and she’s done a great job,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity at the time.
“But it’s very difficult when you’re with people in the military or law enforcement.” “And they come to you and they – they want to hug you, and they want to kiss you because we’ve done a really good job for them. And you will come closer, and things will happen. ”
The report was contributed by Lara Seligman and David Brown.
