Trump has ‘more energy than two 30-year-olds’, claims campaign aide following positive Covid test

A Donald Trump campaign aide has claimed the president has "more energy than two 30-year-olds" as she attempted to downplay the impact of her boss testing positive for Covid-19.

Mica Mosbacher, who sits on the Trump 2020 advisory board, took to the airwaves on Friday morning to issue assurances that the president, 74, would continue to carry out his duties despite contracting the disease.

"I want to reassure everyone that the president of the United States feels well," Ms Mosbacher told BBC Radio 4’s Today. "He's got more energy than two 30-year-olds."

It was announced late on Thursday night that the president and first lady Melania Trump, had tested positive for coronavirus, which has claimed some 208,000 US lives.

The news has thrown the race for the White House into tumult just over a month before Americans go to the polls, in what has been described as the most important election in living memory.

Following the announcement Mr Trump's doctor, Sean P. Conley, said the president was "well" and would continue his duties "without disruption". He did not confirm if the president had been experiencing any symptoms.

The president’s age and weight mean he is considered at increased risk of Covid-19 complications. He is not said to exercise, other than playing golf, and has an unhealthy diet.

But Ms Mosbacher insisted that Mr Trump - who has repeatedly refused to wear a mask during campaign rallies - was in good health.

"He's a warrior and a fighter and we do not anticipate at this point that he will become incapacitated," she said. "So we're feeling very optimistic about this situation. The president has been extraordinarily careful, his White House physician has continued to do regular Covid tests."

Throughout his re-election campaign, the president has held multiple rallies attended by thousands of supporters, many of whom did not wear face masks or practise social distancing.

Asked about Mr Trump repeatedly downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic while holding large-scale events, Ms Mosbacher said: "Well, I understand that that has been the left wing media's narrative.

“However, the Republican National Committee has taken precautions during even the rallies, and has been passing out masks and asking people to wear them.”

She added: "A federal mask mandate in the US is not constitutional and would be challenged in the courts, but the people that work at the White House do wear masks. There have been many, many precautions in place.  

"Obviously ... I do not feel the president has downplayed it ... at the beginning of this pandemic he was able to have one of the largest mobilisations since World War Two.

"He [brought] in equipment - whether it was ventilators or PPE etc - the president always has had rhetoric about many different things, always with this president look at his actions, look at what he's done."

It is not clear at this stage where the president might have picked up the disease, although he has in recent days been in close contact with aide Hope Hicks, who tested positive earlier on Thursday.

Should Mr Trump develop complications from the disease it could potentially force him to withdraw from the election and lead to the Republican party naming someone else on the ballot.

While the 25th Amendment of the constitution sets out that a vice-president assumes power when a president is incapacitated, what happens when a presidential candidate becomes ill or withdraws is less clear.