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The U.S. leadership has been plunged into extraordinary uncertainty after Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, raising questions about how far the infection has penetrated the heart of the government.
The US president continued to perform his duties under quarantine from the White House residence on Friday and was showing “mild symptoms” of Covid-19, an official said. But his election campaign was on hold.
It can take several days for the virus to fully manifest itself, and Trump, 74, clinically obese, is medically vulnerable. If incapacitated, Mike Pence, the vice president, who tested negative, would take over. The presidential elections take place on November 3.
Trump, who has spent months defying science and downplaying the threat of a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans, is also facing criticism for going ahead with a campaign fundraising event after learning that a senior aide, Hope Hicks, had tested positive.
An aide said the president contacted about 100 people at the fundraiser in Bedminster, NJ, on Thursday and “seemed lethargic,” the New York Times reported.
Trump has traveled extensively in recent days, to a presidential debate, a campaign rally and the fundraiser. A fight was taking place to closely test those who have been with him. But it will be difficult to quickly establish how far the virus has spread at the highest levels of government because it can take days before an infection is detected.
First Lady Melania Trump also tested positive, tweeting: “I have mild symptoms, but overall I feel fine. I hope for a speedy recovery. “
On Friday, Utah Senator Mike Lee, who attended the White House event last Saturday where Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett for supreme court, also said she had tested positive.
The White House took steps to quell fears of a constitutional and national security crisis. “The president has mild symptoms and as we seek to try to make sure that not only his health, safety and well-being are good, we continue to look at that for the entire American people,” Mark Meadows, chief of staff, told reporters.
“He is still not only in a good mood, but also very energetic. We have spoken several times this morning, I have the five or six things that he has entrusted me to do, as I do every morning and he certainly wants to make sure that we remain engaged. “
Meadows, who was not wearing a face mask, said Trump was at his residence and his first questions in their conversation were about the economy. He declined to provide details on the medical treatments the president is receiving.
“The American people can rest assured that we have a president who is not only at work, he will continue to work, and I am optimistic that he will have a very quick and rapid recovery,” he added.
Early on Friday afternoon, Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien issued a statement that read: “All previously announced campaign events involving the president’s participation are in the process of being moved to virtual events or are being temporarily postponing. Additionally, previously announced events involving members of the first family are also temporarily postponed. All other events in the campaign will be considered on a case-by-case basis and we will make any relevant announcements in the coming days. “
He added: “Vice President Mike Pence, who tested negative for Covid-19, plans to resume his scheduled campaign events. Any other information about the president will come from the White House. “
Similarly, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate and Trump ally, tweeted that he and Trump had been discussing the president’s nomination of a Supreme Court justice.
“I just finished a great phone call with POTUS,” he wrote. “He’s in a good mood and we talk business, especially how impressed the senators are with Judge Barrett’s qualifications. Full steam ahead with the fair, complete, and timely process that the nominee, the court, and the country deserve, “he added, referring to Amy Coney Barrett, the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court post left by the death of Ruth Bader. . Ginsburg two weeks ago.
But the administration’s frequent false and misleading statements about the pandemic left many observers skeptical about the guarantees. And the United States has a long history of not being transparent about presidents’ health issues.
The news broke shortly before 1 am Friday when Trump tweeted: “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! “
The announcement came hours after he confirmed that Hope Hicks, one of his close associates, had been diagnosed with the virus on Thursday. Hicks reportedly began experiencing mild symptoms during a flight home from a rally in Minnesota Wednesday night and was isolated from other passengers on board the plane.
Even after Hicks fell ill, Trump went ahead with his Bedminster engagement, potentially exposing attendees to the virus. Trump’s social media director Dan Scavino and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who were originally scheduled to join him on the trip, were replaced at the last minute by other attendees.
Trump’s infection turns a presidential election upside down in which more than a million people have voted early. The president had been holding campaign rallies packed with supporters who often did not wear face masks or keep their distance, defying public health guidelines issued by his own administration. Herman Cain, a Trump ally and campaign surrogate, died of coronavirus in July after attending a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Trump now finds himself punished with pending rallies. It is also unclear if the next debate against Democrat Joe Biden will continue or take place virtually on October 15.
In a tweet Friday, Biden said that he and his wife Jill “send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a speedy recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family. “
Biden and his wife Jill were tested for coronavirus on Friday morning and tested negative.
Kevin O’Connor, his primary care physician, issued a statement saying the former vice president and his wife underwent tests on Friday and that Covid-19 was “not detected.”
Trump and Biden did not shake hands during the debate, but they ran out of masks about 10 feet apart during the 90-minute event.
The president has mocked Biden for frequently wearing a mask when in public, per federal health guidelines. “I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said. “Every time you see him, he has a mask. He could be talking 200 feet from me and he’s showing up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen. “
In an aggressive push for businesses and schools to reopen, Trump has claimed that the worst of the pandemic is over, even as infections in the United States top 7 million, including some of his political allies.
Four American presidents have died in office of natural causes: William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren Harding, and Franklin Roosevelt. Trump’s infection is the most serious threat to the health of a sitting president since Ronald Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt in 1981.
