President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested COVID-19, tweeted the president early Friday morning. Arriving just a month before Election Day, the announcement caused shock across the country and around the world.
Trump said he and the first girl would begin to self-quarantine.
The first girl tweeted after the positive trials, saying that she and the president “felt and I had postponed all the commitments to come. “
Other world leaders, such as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, contracted the virus and returned to service, yet the president is older than his positive counterparts. Trump is 74 years old and has at least one underlying condition, putting him at high risk for complications, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, but he feels fine.
The White House doctor issued a note confirming the positive evidence and saying that the president and the first girl were fine and making plans to stay home.
“Rest a sure that I hope the president will continue to perform his duties frequently as he recovers, and will keep him informed of any long-term progress,” wrote Sean Conley, the president’s doctor.
A senior White House official told CBS News that Trump is in “good spirits” and noted that getting a COVID-19 infection “early can mitigate the situation. “
The official said it was “beneficial” that there were not many other people around the president, with the aim of seeking contracts.
However, Trump met with supporters in the user the previous Thursday on a fundraising occasion and held a rally with supporters in Minnesota on Wednesday night. On Tuesday he was in Cleveland, Ohio, for the first presidential debate.
When asked if other people were quarantined in the White House after positive tests by the president and first lady, a senior White House official told CBS News that “contact search has been conducted and appropriate notifications and recommendations have been made. “
Vice President Mike Pence tweeted about an hour after Pence’s announcement. Trump, saying that he and the moment Karen Pence, “send their love and prayers” to the president and the first.
“We join millions of people across the United States to pray for their complete and rapid recovery. God bless you, President Trump and our glorious First Lady Melania,” Pence wrote.
Although Pence is 61, the next two officials in the president’s line of succession are octogenarians: House of Commons President Nancy Pelosi of 80 and Senate President pro Tempore Chuck Grassley of 87. Capitol lawmakers should review their check regime, as lately there are no regular checks for members of Congress.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who ranks fourth on the list for the presidency, told reporters that he had not interacted with Pompeo. Trump since September 15. Pompeo, 56, is back in the United States from Europe on Friday.
News of Trump’s positive tests came hours after it was reported that the president’s assistant leader, Hope Hicks, had tested positive for coronavirus. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows tested negative for the virus, a senior White House official told CBS News. .
America is united.
Ours is strong.
Your president will continue to put other people first!
“The force across the country is with President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a tweet, adding that Mr. Trump would “continue to put other people first!”
The president planned to cross over in Florida on Friday and then the western United States next week, but all of his occasions were canceled, he still intended to make a phone call about COVID-19 support for vulnerable seniors later.
The positive diagnosis may not have come at a worse political time for Trump, just a month before the election and two weeks before the next presidential debate scheduled against former Vice President Joe Biden. During the debate, Trump mocked Biden. , who is 77 years old, for dressing in a mask.
“I don’t wear a mask like him, ” said the president. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He may communicate two hundred yards from him. And it comes with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen. “
CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang reported that management officials were surprised for weeks that the virus had not been detected among White House officials, as Trump had enthusiastically followed the measures through senior fitness officials.
The president has circumvented his own administration’s rules about social estating, dressed in a mask and not gathering in giant groups.
Jiang said there was a “failure in time” when masks were mandatory for White House staff if they had status and moved around the building, those measures “disappeared. “
This is of particular concern, Jiang noted, given that the list of other people who have been in close non-public contact with the president and the first girl in recent days “is long and full of some of the most important people in the world. mundo. la Trump administration. “
Fin Gomez, Tucker Reals, Caroline Linton and Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.