Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LOUISIANA TRUMP COVID FURY
Anger after aides said his health was a serious worry Claims of downplaying condition to help win votes
DONALD Trump was “incandescent” with rage due to his team disobeying his order to say he was improving as he battles Covid-19.
The US President, 74, responded by recording a video in which he assured voters he was “starting to feel good”.
One of his medical team later went as far as saying Trump may be discharged from hospital as early as today.
There is growing confusion about exactly how ill the President is.
Some say he is desperate to seem better than he really is to avoid appearing weak in the run-up to the election and to try to get Covid-19 out of the headlines.
First, docs treating him told how his condition was improving and that he was talking about returning to the White House.
Minutes later, Trump’s blood pressure soared when his Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, contradicted the medical team. Meadows said the President’s “vitals are very concerning”, adding the next 48 hours would be
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“critical”. Trump felt forced into filming his upbeat video which he then put on his Twitter page.
The President said in the fourminute message he was “much better”, but added: “You don’t know, over the next period of a few days, I guess that’s the real test.”
The White House has been accused of doctoring the footage – editing out a cough.
His video was part of a stream of conflicting information from the White House about his health. An insider told the Mirror : “The President was incandescent that the picture of him recovering well from what his team had said were mild symptoms had been shattered. When Meadows gave a briefing to the
contrary all hell broke loose.” The source added: “When the President was diagnosed and started suffering a fever, he was so concerned he was asking if he was going to die.
“After everything he has said and done playing down Covid, he does not want to be seen at its mercy so close to the election. He got dressed and insisted he recorded a video message to reassure the nation he was fine. He is far from it.”
At a briefing, White House doctor Sean Conley refused to say whether the P resident had needed oxygen, before trying to confuse reporters with his answer. It later emerged Trump had been given oxygen at home as he struggled to breathe before being taken to hospital on Friday.
Amid the backlash over misleading statements, Dr Conley later said he had been evasive to “ref lect the upbeat attitude” of the President. Dr Brian Garibaldi, from Trump’s medical team, said yesterday: “[If ] he continues to look and feel as well as he does our hope is to plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow [Monday] to the White House where he can continue his treatment.” The White House has not been “open at all” about Trump’s health, a former UK ambassador to the US has said. Sir Christopher Meyer added: “I am astonished at the reason he has given, flagrant even by Trump’s standards, that the reason he went to hospital was one of joining the American people [to] share their suffering and show leadership. This is rubbish.”
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said he has spoken to the Trump family and believes the President is “going to be OK”. First Lady Melania Trump, 50, also has the virus.
Lord Darroch, Britain’s ambassador to the US until last year, said that unless Trump fully recovers within days “like Superman”, the brush with the virus will hit his election chances.
He said: “He doesn’t want the narrative to be about coronavirus because the polls will tell you most Americans think he has not handled it well.”
Lord Darroch added he “would be astonished” if Trump does not take legal action if he loses a close election. He said: “It could be a real mess.”
The virus has killed more than 200,000 people in the US.