Donald Trump announced in the early hours of Friday morning that both he and the First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for coronavirus.
The news came just hours after the White House had announced that senior aide Hope Hicks had come down with the virus after traveling with the president several times this week. She is said to have first felt poorly on Wednesday evening, returning from a rally in Minnesota on the president’s plane.
Hicks was quarantined away from others on the jet and her diagnosis was confirmed Thursday, according to an administration official, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
But despite her symptoms as early as Wednesday evening Trump then continued with his schedule Thursday and traveled to and from his Bedminster, New Jersey golf resort to take part in two campaign events. They were held behind closed doors to a select audience.
Trump then flew then back to the White House later Thursday evening, when it was then publicly confirmed Hicks had the virus. His social media director Dan Scavino and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who were originally set to join him on the Thursday trip, were replaced at the last minute by other aides.
It was not until shortly before 1am EST Friday that Trump confirmed he had the virus, writing: ‘Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!’
In May press secretary Kayleigh McEneny described Trump as the ‘most tested man in America’. She said: ‘He’s tested more than anyone, multiple times a day. And we believe that he’s acting appropriately.’
But Trump later said: ‘I don’t know about more than one. I do probably on average a test every two days, three days, and I don’t know of any time I’ve taken two in one day, but I could see that happening.’
THURSDAY: Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, October 1, 2020, following campaign events in New Jersey hours before revealing he has COVID-19
The fundraiser in New Jersey on Thursday was behind closed doors but some in attendance posted to social media
It is not known why the president’s test took so long to come back or whether he was tested Wednesday evening when Hicks first began displaying symptoms.
Senior staff have been tested for COVID-19 daily since two people who work at the White House complex tested positive in early May, prompting the White House to step up precautions. Everyone who comes into contact with the president also receives a quick-result test.
Trump only said he and Melania were were in quarantine on Thursday evening, writing: ‘Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!’
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 quarantine for 14 days, White House staffers are considered essential workers.
CDC’s guidelines for exposed essential workers allows them to return to work if they take precautions, including taking their temperature before going into work, wearing a mask at all times and practicing social distancing.
The positive test comes a month until the election and after the president has spent the year largely downplaying the threat of the virus.
Trump was last seen by reporters returning to the White House on Thursday evening and looked to be in good health. At 74 years old, he is at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has now killed more than 205,000 people nationwide.
‘Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!’ Trump tweeted.
In a memorandum, the president’s physician said that the president and first lady ‘are both well at this time’ and ‘plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.’
‘Rest assured I expect the President to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering,’ he added.
The diagnosis marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to rise just weeks before the November 3 election.
And it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history.
TUESDAY: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wave before boarding Air Force One to travel to the first presidential debate in Cleveland. The president says he and first lady Melania Trump are awaiting their own test results
WEDNESDAY Hope Hicks, far right. is pictured walking to Marine One alongside Jared Kushner, center, to depart from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC on Wednesday
Symptoms of COVID-19 can include fever, cough and breathing trouble. Most people develop only mild symptoms. But some people, usually those with other medical complications, develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal.
Trump had consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, even after White House staff and allies were exposed and sickened.
‘I felt no vulnerability whatsoever,’ he said told reporters back in May.
THURSDAY: President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to the White House in Washington, Thursday
Since the early days of the pandemic, experts have questioned the health and safety protocols at the White House and asked why more wasn’t being done to protect the commander in chief.
Trump continued to shake hands with visitors long after public health officials were warning against it and he initially resisted being tested.
He has been reluctant to practice his own administration’s social distancing guidelines for fear of looking weak, including refusing under almost all circumstances to wear a mask in public.