Trump going to hospital after positive COVID test
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was taken to Walter Reed Military Medical Center after a day in quarantine at the White House residence Friday, a day after the first couple tested positive for the coronavirus.
“President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day. Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days. President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the First Lady,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement.
Marine One touched down on the South Lawn to take Trump to Bethesda, Maryland. Wearing a mask, Trump gave a thumbs up and waved at reporters as he walked to the helicopter.
After liftoff, Trump posted a tweet with video that showed him standing in a suit with a blue tie. In the video, Trump thanked everyone for great support. He then announced that he was headed for Walter Reed. “I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out.” Trump added that the first lady was doing “very well.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
The story broke late Thursday Pacific time when Bloomberg News reported that trusted Trump adviser Hope Hicks, who traveled with the president on Marine One and Air Force One during the week, had tested positive after she exhibited symptoms.
Hours later, Trump, 74, tweeted, “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
The White House canceled travel and public events on Trump’s schedule Friday. Vice President Mike Pence took over for Trump and hosted a midday conference call on COVID-19 with vulnerable seniors after Pence and wife Karen tested negative during their routine morning test.
A White House official warned the Review-Journal not to “read too much into a slight schedule change,” as Trump spent the day working and calling beltway figures from the residence.
Pence’s doctor, Jesse T. Schonau, released a statement that attested to Pence’s good health and lack of close contact with any White House personnel who tested positive, including the president.
Sean Conley, the president’s physician, sent a statement Friday afternoon that said, “The President remains fatigued but in good spirits,” while the first lady has a mild cough and headache.
Trump received an 8-gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibodies ahead of the decision to go to the military hospital. Art Caplan, a bioethicist at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told the Review-Journal that the decision to give Trump the unapproved treatment — which has been shown to reduce viral load during ongoing trials — was highly unusual given the president’s age, 74, and weight.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Schedules changed
With the election less than five weeks away, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien announced, “All previously announced campaign events involving the President’s participation are in the process of being moved to virtual events or are being temporarily postponed.” He did not comment on the remaining two presidential debates on Oct. 15 and Oct. 22.
Stepien also said Pence would resume his scheduled campaign events.
When did he get it?
It is not clear how long Trump may have been infected. Speculation filled the cable news airwaves as to whether Trump was contagious during Tuesday night’s presidential debate with Democrat Joe Biden in Cleveland, who with his wife, Jill, tested negative for COVID-19 after the Trump reveal.
The first lady and Trump’s adult children did not wear masks as they watched the debate. Jill Biden and other Biden family members were masked. During the debate, Trump, who rarely appears masked, mocked the former vice president for wearing masks even when not necessary
The Biden campaign took down negative campaign ads. The former vice president also tweeted, “This cannot be a partisan moment. It must be an American moment. We have to come together as a nation.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters Friday morning that the first couple was in good spirits and Trump was exhibiting “mild symptoms.” Meadows added Trump probably was watching and critiquing his chief of staff’s gaggle with reporters in real time.
“We find that he’s having to deal with this like so many other millions of other Americans and people around the world have had to. I can tell you that what we’re doing is focusing on the therapeutics, the vaccines, continuing to do that.” Meadows said. More than 7 million Americans have tested positive for the virus.
Over recent months, the coronavirus has visited members of Trump’s inner circle and administration staff. National security adviser Robert C. O’Brien, Pence communications director Katie Miller and Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend and campaign fundraiser, have tested positive — as have a White House valet and Secret Service agents.
The Republican National Committee told Fox News that Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tested positive Wednesday and is sheltering in her Michigan home.
COVID and the court
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tested positive after meeting with Trump Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett Sept. 26 at the White House. Notre Dame President John Jenkins also tested positive after attending the Rose Garden ceremony at which Trump announced Barrett as his third Supreme Court pick.
According to the White House, Barrett tested negative Friday, and the Department of Justice told Fox News that Attorney General Bill Barr tested negative.
It is unclear if the intrusion of the virus will affect Barrett’s Oct. 12 confirmation hearings.
Holding crowded campaign rallies, even in enclosed buildings, Trump has projected the image of a man who felt impervious to the disease. In September, Trump told the Review-Journal that he did not fear contracting the virus at an indoor Henderson rally because, “I’m on a stage. It’s very far away.”
During a video presentation to the Al Smith dinner Wednesday, Trump said, “And I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight.”
Asked why Trump flew to Bedminster for a roundtable event with supporters and fundraiser Thursday after he heard the bad news about Hicks’s test, McEnany said that the president “socially distanced. It was an outdoor event. It was deemed safe.”
“They wouldn’t be going there unless his symptoms were getting worse,” Caplan said of Trump’s trip to Walter Reed.
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.
