The White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump will not change his plan to travel to New Jersey this weekend despite a new governor order requiring visitors who have been to states with large numbers of coronavirus cases. remain in quarantine for 14 days.
“The President of the United States is not a civilian,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said when asked about Trump’s compliance with the quarantine order given his trip to Arizona on Tuesday, which has seen a increase in the rate of their Covid-19 cases.
“Anyone who is very close to him, including staff, guests and the press, is tested for COVID-19 and confirmed to be negative,” Deere said in a statement.
“With regard to Arizona, the White House followed its COVID mitigation plan to ensure that the president did not come into contact with anyone who had symptoms or who had not been examined,” the spokesperson added.
“Anyone traveling in support of the president this weekend will be closely monitored for symptoms and given a COVID test and therefore poses little or no risk to local populations.”
The president is expected to travel this weekend to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. On previous visits to the club, he has flown Air Force One to airports in Newark and Morristown.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, along with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced Wednesday that visitors to states with large numbers of coronavirus cases would be required to put in quarantine for two weeks or face fines.
“This is the smartest thing to do. We have taken our people … to hell and back, “Murphy told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday.
A Murphy spokesman declined to comment on the White House statement about Trump’s visit.
“We work very hard to reduce the rate of viral transmission. We don’t want it to increase because a lot of people come to this region and they can literally bring the infection with them, “Cuomo said during the same call.
“Because what happens in New York happens in New Jersey and happens in Connecticut,” Cuomo said.
At least eight people who worked on the advanced team for the Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, tested positive for Covid-19, two of whom were Secret Service agents. Two of the other people who tested positive came after working at the rally, in contrast to the other six, whose test results came before the event occurred.
