Trump news: President rips off his mask as soon as he arrives back at White House after walking out of hospital
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has been discharged from Walter Reed Medical Centre after his doctors declined to reveal key details about his condition and said he wasn't "out of the wood".
Trump didn’t respond to questions as he left the hospital, saying only “thank you” before ignoring a reporter asking how many White House staff were infected and if he was a super spreader of coronavirus.
On arriving at the White House, Trump took off his mask to salute and pose for photos in front of American flags as Marine One took flight.
The president's return to the White House came after he earlier told America not to be afraid of Covid-19 as the country's death toll climbed over 210,000 and the number of positive cases among the president's inner circle reached 16.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and pastor Greg Laurie, who was at the Scotus Rose Garden event, were the two latest to announce a positive diagnosis on Monday.
As he prepared to end his 72-hour hospital stay, Trump began his morning furiously tweeting from his sick bed after attracting widespread condemnation over his “irresponsible” drive-by of supporters on Sunday evening.
"RUDE!!!", the president called it. But the criticisms even came from within the president's circle, with Donald Trump Jr reported by Vanity Fair to want an intervention over the "crazy" motorcade stunt and tweet storm.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, said their intention is for the president to make the second presidential debate on 15 October, which Joe Biden has also agreed, calling on the president listens to the science and make a nationwide mask rule.
OPINION: ‘I sat in the front row at the debate. Did Trump infect me with the coronavirus?’
For Independent Voices, Kristin Urquiza felt betrayed and terrified when she found out the news. “An image of my father, intubated, flashed before me”.
I sat in the front row at the debate. Did Trump infect me with the coronavirus?
I felt betrayed and terrified when I found out the news. An image of my father, intubated, flashed before me
White House Correspondents Association wish Kayleigh McEnany a swift recovery
The official statement of the White House press club doesn’t share the same bombastic energy as some of its reporters.
Another White House press spox positive, ABC reports
The latest is Chad Gilmartin, another staffer in the White House’s press department, according to reporter John Santucci.
Trump’s list
With more White House staffers testing positive today, it’s a good time to check in on the tally of Trump’s circle that has recently contracted coronavirus. Reuters has put together this useful cheat sheet:
KAYLEIGH MCENANY
White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said in a statement on Monday that she has tested positive for COVID-19, adding that she is experiencing no symptoms and “had no knowledge of Hope Hicks’ testing positive before her briefing last Thursday.”
HOPE HICKS
Hope Hicks, a close adviser to the president who often traveled with him on the Air Force One and Marine One presidential aircraft, tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus on Thursday. The disclosure of her infection, first reported by Bloomberg, set off a wave of news.
MELANIA TRUMP
Donald Trump, who had carried out a busy week of campaigning starting with the Sept. 26 introduction of his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett at a packed White House ceremony, said on Friday that he had his wife, Melania, had tested positive.
RONNA MCDANIEL
Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, who has had frequent contact with Trump, said on Friday she tested positive for the virus and was quarantined at home in Michigan.
SENATOR RON JOHNSON
Ron Johnson, who heads the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, a spokesman said on Saturday.
SENATOR THOM TILLIS
Senator Thom Tillis tested positive for the coronavirus, he said in a statement on Friday. A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tillis positive test results comes after he attended a Sept. 26 Oval Office meeting with Barrett, who Republicans are seeking to steer onto the Supreme Court.
SENATOR MIKE LEE
Mike Lee, another senator on the Judiciary Committee, also said he tested positive on Friday. He was present at the Oval Office meeting on Sept. 26.
BILL STEPIEN
Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, also tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and will work from home, according to a senior campaign official.
GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said on Saturday that he was checking himself into a hospital as a precautionary measure after testing positive for coronavirus.
KELLYANNE CONWAY
Kellyanne Conway, a former counselor to Trump, said in a post on Twitter that she had tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. She attended the Sept. 26 Rose Garden ceremony for Barrett.
NOTRE DAME PRESIDENT JOHN JENKINS
University of Notre Dame President John Jenkins, who also attended the White House ceremony, said on Friday that he had tested positive.
NICHOLAS LUNA
Assistant to Trump Nicholas Luna, a “body man” who accompanies the president day and night, has tested positive, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Fifteen members of Trump’s inner circle now positive with coronavirus
We did the math so you don’t have to:
- DONALD TRUMP, President
- MELANIA TRUMP, First Lady
- KAYLEIGH MCENANY, White House press secretary
- CHAD GILMARTIN, White House press (unconfirmed)
- KAROLINE LEAVITT, White House press (unconfirmed)
- HOPE HICKS, adviser
- RONNA MCDANIEL, Republican Committee Chair
- SENATOR RON JOHNSON, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
- SENATOR THOM TILLIS, Senate Judiciary Committee
- SENATOR MIKE LEE, Senate Judiciary Committee
- BILL STEPIEN, Trump campaign manager
- CHRIS CHRISTIE, former New Jersey governor
- KELLYANNE CONWAY, former counsellor to Trump
- JOHN JENKINS, University of Notre Dame president
- NICHOLAS LUNA, Trump’s ‘body man’
Trump is biggest threat to press freedom in US in a lifetime, says Dan Rather
In an interview for The Independent’s ‘Journalism is not a crime’ series, veteran newsman Dan Rather spoke to Andrew Buncombe about the unprecedented situation confronting media: "The press has not been through anything like this.”
Read the full conversation:
Trump is biggest threat to press freedom in US in my lifetime says Dan Rather
Journalism is Not a Crime: Veteran broadcaster tells Andrew Buncombe situation confronting media ‘unprecedented’
Bernie Sanders hopes for a speedy recovery to the threat to our democracy
Beginning his campaign remarks in Michigan today, Bernie Sanders wished Donald Trump a speedy recovery.
"Let me begin by wishing the president and the First Lady a full and speedy recovery from the Covid-19 illness they are now dealing with,” Mr Sanders said.
It comes less than two weeks after a 24 September speech titled Trump’s threat to our democracy, delivered after the president went “even further down the path of authoritarianism”.
“This is not just an election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Sanders said following Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy, and democracy must win.”
‘RUDE!!!’: Trump responds to criticism of hospital drive-by
Criticism of the hospital drive-by have reached the president, who said it would have been rude not to visit fans waiting hours or days outside Walter Reed Medical Centre.
‘Don’t be afraid of Covid’: Trump to leave hospital at 6.30pm today
The president just tweeted he will leave hospital this evening, saying he’s feeling “really good” and telling people “don’t be afraid of Covid”.
The announcement comes a few minutes before his doctor is expected to brief media on his condition.
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