Robert O’Brien, the U.S. national security adviser, conducted COVID-19 tests.
The diagnosis makes O’Brien Trump’s top management official to test positive for the high-transmission virus that has inflamed more than four million Americans and killed about 150,000.
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According to CNN, O’Brien had recently returned from Europe, where he and his deputy leader met with the UK, France, Germany and Italy.
In images spread through the National Security Council, O’Brien photographed last week among foreign leaders where he did not dress in a mask or practice social estrangement.
However, Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg News told the story and said her source told her that O’Brien had contracted the virus at a family circle party.
O’Brien appointed the administration’s fourth national security adviser after John Bolton’s departure in September 2019. He has not been actively involved in the control of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. This duty was largely assumed through his deputy, Matthew Pottinger.
However, he told CNN that he first informed President Donald Trump of the risk posed by the virus to the country on January 23. O’Brien has rarely given the impression publicly when commenting on the virus. The media said one source called him “the least influential national security adviser of all time.”
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It is known when O’Brien last met with the president in person. The two were photographed in combination in Miami on July 10, before O’Brien’s European trip.
National Security Council staff told CNN that they were not informed when their boss tested positive for the virus, but learned of its diagnosis through the media. O’Brien “has mild symptoms and has isolated himself and is fleeing from a safe place off site,” the White House said in a statement. “There is no threat of exposure to the president or vice president.”
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