July 27 (UPI) – Robert O’Brien, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, conducted a COVID-19 test, the White House announced Monday.
“He has mild symptoms, isolates himself and works from an external location.
“There is no exposure to the president or vice president. The national security council’s cades remain uninterrupted.”
O’Brien is the highest-ranking White House official in positive since the start of the pandemic.
CNN reported that he had been running away from home since last week and Bloomberg reported that O’Brien headed the National Security Council by phone.
O’Brien spent 3 days in Paris before this month’s assembly for sure from Britain, France, Germany and Italy, where they discussed containment and recovery efforts.
When asked earlier why O’Brien was going to France instead of holding the assembly via videoconference, a management official told Politico that it was “more difficult to advocate in person.
“There is no replacement for non-public diplomacy,” the official said. “You can’t do that in Skype.”