Trump, Wife Test Positive For Coronavirus
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president announced early Friday morning.
In a tweet, the president said “we will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
The president said earlier Thursday they were beginning a “quarantine process” as they awaited coronavirus test results after Hope Hicks, who they had spent substantial time with this week, tested positive for COVID-19.
Hicks, one of the president’s most trusted and longest-serving confidantes, began feeling mild symptoms during the plane ride home from a rally in Minnesota Wednesday evening, according to an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose private information. She was isolated from other passengers aboard the plane and her diagnosis was confirmed Thursday, the person said.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Hicks, who serves as counselor to the president, also accompanied him and other senior aides to the first presidential debate in Cleveland on Tuesday. She is the closest White House official to Trump to test positive for the virus so far.
“Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible!” Trump tweeted. “The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!”
It can take days though, for an infection to take hold and be detectable in a nasal or throat swab, and it was unclear what Trump’s quarantine would entail. Minutes before his tweet, the White House distributed a schedule for Friday that showed he planned to go forward with a fundraiser at his Washington, D.C., hotel and a political rally in Sanford, Florida.
