White House denies claim Trump returned to work in Oval Office despite Covid diagnosis
The White House says that Larry Kudlow misspoke and that the president has not returned to the Oval Office
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The White House denies claims that Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office on Tuesday with “extra precautions”, after the president’s economic advisor Larry Kudlow “misspoke” during an interview.
Mr Kudlow told CNBC that “traffic was limited” when the president worked in the Oval Office, but said he couldn’t “be specific” when asked if Mr Trump wore a mask.
Moments earlier, the administration’s chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters that Mr Trump wanted to go to the Oval Office yesterday and may do so today, according to White House press pool.
The White House says that Mr Kudlow misspoke when he said Oval Office, and rather meant the president was working from the residence. While preparations were reportedly made, Mr Trump did not end up going to the Oval Office on Tuesday.
“While the president wanted to be in the Oval Office yesterday, he was not there – he stayed back in the residence working from there,” said White House communications advisor Ben Williams.
“Safety preparations have been underway in the event he moves to working out of the Oval in the coming days.”
In the interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Mr Kudlow said a lot of people were working from home after a “bunch of folks” had tested positive.
“First of all, the government is functioning, the president actually showed up in the Oval Office yesterday, with extra precautions with respect to his Covid-19 and he’s getting a lot better and he’s much stronger so there was some limited activity,” Mr Kudlow said.
When asked directly if Mr Trump wears a mask in the Oval Office, and who was with him, Mr Kudlow said he can’t be specific as that is the work of the top rung of government.
“The president as you’ve seen has been masking quite a bit and everyone else who comes into contact in the Oval, the traffic is limited as you might expect, but there are addittional precautions, addittional measures that have been take much greater than simply masking,” he added.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments