Next 2 days ‘critical’ for Trump
Conflicting accounts given as he’s treated for COVID-19
BETHESDA, Md. — President Donald Trump faces a “critical” next two days in his fight against COVID-19 at a military hospital, his chief of staff said Saturday, also revealing that Trump went through a “very concerning” period on Friday while officials were giving calm, upbeat reports.
“We’re still not on a clear path yet to a full recovery,” said chief of staff Mark Meadows outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
His comments were in sharp contrast to the rosy assessment offered moments earlier by Trump’s doctors, who took pains not to reveal the president had received supplemental oxygen at the White House before being flown by helicopter to the hospital.
Later Saturday, Trump released a four-minute video, purportedly shot in the hospital, in which he said he’s starting to feel better and hopes to “be back soon.”
The changing, and at times contradictory, accounts created a clear credibility problem for the White House at a crucial moment, with the president’s health and the nation’s leadership on the line.
With Trump expected to remain hospitalized several more days and the presidential election looming, his condition is being anxiously watched by Americans — and followed closely by foreign leaders, friendly and otherwise.
Saturday’s briefing by Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley and other doctors raised more questions than it answered as Conley repeatedly refused to say whether the president ever needed supplemental oxygen, despite repeated questioning, and declined to share key details, including Trump’s fever temperature. Conley also
revealed that Trump began exhibiting “clinical indications” of COVID-19 Thursday afternoon, earlier than previously known.
Conley spent much of the briefing dodging reporters’ questions, as he was pressed for details.
“Thursday no oxygen. None at this moment. And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” Conley said.
But according to a person familiar with Trump’s condition, Trump was administered oxygen at the White House on Friday before he was transported to the military hospital by helicopter.
Conley said Trump’s symptoms, including a mild cough, nasal congestion and fatigue, “are now resolving and improving,” and the president had been feverfree for 24 hours. But Trump also is taking aspirin, which lowers body temperature and could mask that symptom.
“He’s in exceptionally good spirits,” said another doctor, Sean Dooley, who said Trump’s heart, kidney and liver functions were normal and that he was not having trouble breathing or walking around.
Trump is 74 and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people nationwide and killed more than 208,000 people in the U.S.
White House officials, including Meadows, had insisted Friday that Trump had only “mild symptoms” as they tried to project an image of normalcy.
But the first word that a close aide to Trump had been infected came from the media, not the White House. And aides have repeatedly declined to share basic health information, including a full accounting of the president’s symptoms, what tests he’s undertaken and the results.
In a memo released late Friday, Conley did report that Trump had been treated at the hospital with remdesivir, an antiviral medication, after sharing that he’d taking another experimental drug at the White House.
Conley declined to say when Trump had last been tested before he was confirmed to have COVID-19 late Thursday. He initially suggested that Trump was 72 hours into the diagnosis — which would mean that he was confirmed infected Wednesday. Conley later clarified that Trump was administered an accurate test for the virus on Thursday afternoon, after White House aide Hope Hicks was confirmed to be positive and Trump exhibited “clinical indications” of the virus.
On Saturday, Conley said Trump’s blood oxygen level was 96%, which is in the normal range. The two experimental drugs he has received, given through an IV, have shown some promise against COVID-19. On Friday, he was given a single dose of a drug Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. is testing to supply antibodies to help his immune system fight the virus.
Friday night, he began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug currently used for moderately and severely ill patients.
“We’re maximizing all aspects of his care,” attacking the virus in multiple ways, Conley said.
He noted that in many cases, COVID-19 can become more dangerous as the body responds.
“The first week of COVID, and in particular day seven to 10, are the most critical in determining the likely course of this illness,” he said.
At the same time, the White House has been working to trace a flurry of new infections of close Trump aides and allies. Attention is focused in particular on the Sept. 26 White House event introducing Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. That day, Trump gathered more than 150 people in the Rose Garden.
Among those who attended and have now tested positive: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — who tweeted that he had checked himself into a hospital Saturday night — as well as former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, the president of the University of Notre Dame and at least two Republican lawmakers — Utah Sen. Mike Lee and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis.
The president’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, and the head of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, have also tested positive, though they were not at the event.