Dr. Sean Conley, physician to President Donald Trump, briefs reporters at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. Trump was admitted to the hospital after contracting the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on coronavirus infections hitting President Donald Trump and others in his circle (all times EDT):
1 p.m.
A person familiar with President Donald Trump’s medical condition says the president had been administered supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday before he was hospitalized.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The revelation follows a press conference by Trump’s doctors where they refused to confirm the president had been on oxygen following his COVID-19 diagnosis Thursday. The doctors would only say that Trump was not on oxygen at the hospital.
Doctors said Trump was doing well and his symptoms were subsiding. However, the person said the president’s condition had been “very concerning” but Trump has been improving since going to the hospital.
First lady Melania Trump also has tested positive for COVID-19 and is recovering at home.
___
1 p.m.
White House doctors said President Donald Trump began exhibiting “clinical indications” of COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, earlier than previously known.
Trump's doctors held a press conference Saturday at Walter Reed Medical Center, where the president was transported Friday. They said he was doing very well and his symptoms were improving.
However, a person familiar with the president’s illness said Trump’s condition was “very concerning” but he has been improving since going to the hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Trump sent a tweet around 1 a.m. Friday confirming he had been diagnosed with coronavirus, along with first lady Melania Trump.
On Thursday evening, Trump called into Fox News host Sean Hannity's show, where he discussed aide Hope Hicks’ diagnosis and that he had been tested for the illness. But he did not say whether he had suffered symptoms.
A statement from Trump’s doctors early Friday did not mention the president having symptoms.
___
1 p.m.
Presidential aide and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has tweeted that he's tested positive for COVID-19.
Christie said Saturday that he will be receiving medical attention and “will keep the necessary folks apprised of my condition.”
He did not say whether he had symptoms.
Christie had said the last time he was with President Donald Trump was Tuesday during preparations for the first debate with former Vice President Joe Biden in Cleveland.
He was not at Trump’s Bedminster fundraiser in New Jersey on Thursday.
He had tweeted Friday morning that he had last tested negative ahead of Tuesday’s debate.
___
12:30 p.m.
Senate Republicans have canceled legislative work until Oct. 19 as the coronavirus sweeps through their ranks and lawmakers increasingly call for comprehensive testing on Capitol Hill.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Saturday that confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett are still on.
One by one, President Donald Trump and a series of GOP lawmakers have fallen ill with the virus that has killed more than 208,000 Americans.
Over the last week, many of the politicians who tested positive attended events at which few people wore masks and mingled in the halls and tunnels of the Capitol complex.
Just since Friday morning, Trump, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin announced that they have tested positive.
The Senate was to reconvene this week ahead of its confirmation proceedings for Barrett. McConnell has said those hearings, scheduled to begin Oct. 12, are “full steam ahead.”
___
12:15 p.m.
A person familiar with President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 illness says some of his vital signs over the past 24 hours were “very concerning” but they've improved since he was admitted to a military hospital.
The person has knowledge of the president’s medical condition but was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
It contradicted Trump’s doctors, who said during a press conference Saturday that the president was doing very well and felt as though he could walk out of a military hospital. They said he had not been on oxygen Saturday or when he was with their medical team Friday, and that his symptoms were subsiding.
Trump was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday after saying he had contracted COVID-19. First lady Melania Trump also has fallen ill.
The person described the next 48 hours as critical and said there was no clear path yet on a recovery and that it could be days before he was discharged.
___
12 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s doctors say the president is doing well, is fever-free and isn't having difficulty breathing after contracting the coronavirus.
Doctors said Saturday that Trump was not on supplemental oxygen, and while he had fatigue, nasal congestion and coughing, his symptoms are now resolving and improving.
Dr. Sean Conley, Trump’s physician, refused to say whether Trump had been on supplemental oxygen at any point during his illness, saying he was not on it Saturday or Thursday or Friday while he was with the medical team from Walter Reed Medical Center.
Trump was transferred to the military hospital on Friday afternoon in what doctors say was a precaution after he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. He has not transferred powers.
Conley says the president has “a lot of work to do” and is doing it.
Doctors say the president told them: “I feel like I could walk out of here today.”
•••
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s doctor insisted Saturday that he is doing “very well” as he is treated for COVID-19 at a military hospital. But Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley and other doctors raised more questions than they answered at a briefing, leaving unclear whether the president has ever required supplemental oxygen.
Conley’s assessment was contradicted by an account provided by a person familiar with Trump’s condition, who said some of his vital signs over the past 24 hours were “very concerning” and that the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Conley said Trump has been fever-free for 24 hours as he updated the nation on the president’s condition from Walter Reed Medical Center Saturday afternoon. Trump was admitted Friday after testing positive for the coronavirus and has been undergoing treatment.
While Conley said the president is not currently on oxygen, he refused to say whether the president had ever been on oxygen, despite repeated questioning.
“Thursday no oxygen. None at this moment. And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” he said. He said that Trump’s symptoms, including a cough and nasal congestion “are now resolving and improving.”
“He’s in exceptionally good spirits,” said another doctor, Sean Dooley.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story is below:
A feverish and fatigued President Donald Trump was spending the weekend at a military hospital for treatment of COVID-19, as new cases continued to emerged among some of the president's top advisers and allies.
Trump's physician, Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, was set to update the nation on his condition from the hospital Saturday morning. The decision to have Conley brief reporters marks a change in strategy by the White House, which has so far been less than transparent about the virus's spread.
It was a reporter for Bloomberg News – not the White House — that broke news that a close aide to Trump had been infected. And aides so far have declined to share basic health information about the president, including a full accounting of his symptoms, what tests he's undertaken and the results.
In a memo released shortly before midnight, Conley did report that Trump had been treated at the hospital with remdesivir, an antiviral medication, after taking another experimental drug at the White House. He added that Trump is "doing very well" and is "not requiring any supplemental oxygen."
The White House said Trump was expected to stay at the hospital for "a few days" out of an abundance of caution and that he would continue to work from the hospital's presidential suite, which is equipped to allow him to keep up his official duties. In addition to accessibility to tests and equipment, the decision was made, at least in part, with the understanding that moving him later, if he took a turn for the worse, could send a worrying signal.
As the White House works to piece together the flurry of new infections, attention is focused in particular on last Saturday's White House event introducing Trump's Supreme Court nominee. That day, Trump gathered more than 150 people in the Rose Garden. People mingled, hugged and shook hands — overwhelmingly without masks. There were also several indoor receptions, where Trump's Supreme Court pick, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, her family, senators and others mingling in the close quarters of the White House, photographs show.
Among those who attended who have now tested positive: 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 decision for the president to leave the White House for the hospital capped a day of whipsaw events in Washington Friday. The president, who has spent months playing down the threat of the virus, was forced to cancel all campaign events a month before the election as he fought a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans and is hitting others in his orbit as well.
Trump walked out of the White House on Friday evening wearing a mask and gave a thumbs-up to reporters but did not speak before boarding Marine One. Members of the aircrew, Secret Service agents and White House staff wore face coverings to protect themselves from the president onboard the helicopter.
In a video taped before leaving for Walter Reed, Trump said, "I think I'm doing very well, but we're going to make sure that things work out." He remained fully president, all authority intact.
"Going welI, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!" he wrote in his first tweet from the hospital Friday night.
Trump first revealed that he had tested positive in a tweet about 1 a.m. Friday — hours after he returned from a Thursday afternoon political fundraiser. He had gone ahead to the event, saying nothing to the crowd though knowing he had been exposed to an aide with the disease that has infected millions in America and killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
First lady Melania Trump also tested positive and has said she has mild symptoms. She is believed to be isolating at the White House.
Also testing positive: Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien. Campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Stepien received a diagnosis Friday and is experiencing "mild flu-like symptoms." Stepien, who joined Trump at Tuesday's first presidential debate, plans to quarantine until he recovers. On Saturday, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin became the third Senate Republican to publicly confirm testing positive in the current spate of infections, although Johnson was not at last week's Rose Garden event.
Trump's diagnosis came during an already turbulent period in Washington and around the world, with the U.S. gripped in a heated presidential election and the pandemic taking a heavy human and economic toll. Trump's immediate campaign events were all canceled, and his next debate with Democrat Joe Biden, scheduled for Oct. 15, is now in question.
Trump has been trying all year — and as recently as Wednesday — to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is past, and he has consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable. He has mostly refused to abide by basic public health guidelines — including those issued by his own administration — such as wearing face coverings in public and practicing social distancing. Until he tested positive, he continued to hold campaign rallies that drew thousands of often maskless supporters.
"I felt no vulnerability whatsoever," he told reporters back in May. With the election coming up in a month, he is urging states and cities to "reopen" and reduce or eliminate shutdown rules despite continuing virus outbreaks.
The White House tried to maintain an atmosphere of business-as-usual on Friday.
"President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day," said press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. "Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days."
The president's physician said in a memo that Trump received a dose of an experimental antibody combination by Regeneron that is in clinical trials. Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley said Trump "remains fatigued but in good spirits" and that a team of experts was evaluating both the president and first lady in regard to next steps.
Late Friday, Conley issued an update that said Trump is "doing very well" and is "not requiring any supplemental oxygen." But he said that, "in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate remdesivir therapy," an antiviral medication.
"He has completed his first dose and is resting comfortably," the doctor wrote.
The first lady, who is 50, has a "mild cough and headache," Conley reported, and the remainder of the first family, including the Trumps' son Barron, who lives at the White House, tested negative.
Trump is 74 years old and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people nationwide.
Both Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have tested negative, their campaign said. Vice President Mike Pence tested negative for the virus Friday morning and "remains in good health," his spokesman said. Pence was to resume his campaign schedule after his test.
Barrett, who was with Trump and many others on Saturday and has been on a Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers, also tested negative, the White House said. It was confirmed that she had a mild case of COVID earlier this year and has now recovered.
Many White House and senior administration officials were undergoing tests,, but the full scale of the outbreak around the president may not be known for some time as it can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test. Officials with the White House Medical Unit were tracing the president's contacts.
Trump's handling of the pandemic has already been a flashpoint in his race against Biden, who spent much of the summer off the campaign trail and at his home in Delaware, citing concern about the virus. Biden has since resumed a more active campaign schedule, but with small, socially distanced crowds. He also regularly wears a mask in public, something Trump mocked him for at Tuesday night's debate.
"I don't wear masks like him," Trump said. "Every time you see him, he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from me, and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen."
-->WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on coronavirus infections hitting President Donald Trump and others in his circle (all times EDT):
1 p.m.
A person familiar with President Donald Trump’s medical condition says the president had been administered supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday before he was hospitalized.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The revelation follows a press conference by Trump’s doctors where they refused to confirm the president had been on oxygen following his COVID-19 diagnosis Thursday. The doctors would only say that Trump was not on oxygen at the hospital.
Doctors said Trump was doing well and his symptoms were subsiding. However, the person said the president’s condition had been “very concerning” but Trump has been improving since going to the hospital.
First lady Melania Trump also has tested positive for COVID-19 and is recovering at home.
___
1 p.m.
White House doctors said President Donald Trump began exhibiting “clinical indications” of COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, earlier than previously known.
Trump's doctors held a press conference Saturday at Walter Reed Medical Center, where the president was transported Friday. They said he was doing very well and his symptoms were improving.
However, a person familiar with the president’s illness said Trump’s condition was “very concerning” but he has been improving since going to the hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Trump sent a tweet around 1 a.m. Friday confirming he had been diagnosed with coronavirus, along with first lady Melania Trump.
On Thursday evening, Trump called into Fox News host Sean Hannity's show, where he discussed aide Hope Hicks’ diagnosis and that he had been tested for the illness. But he did not say whether he had suffered symptoms.
A statement from Trump’s doctors early Friday did not mention the president having symptoms.
___
1 p.m.
Presidential aide and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has tweeted that he's tested positive for COVID-19.
Christie said Saturday that he will be receiving medical attention and “will keep the necessary folks apprised of my condition.”
He did not say whether he had symptoms.
Christie had said the last time he was with President Donald Trump was Tuesday during preparations for the first debate with former Vice President Joe Biden in Cleveland.
He was not at Trump’s Bedminster fundraiser in New Jersey on Thursday.
He had tweeted Friday morning that he had last tested negative ahead of Tuesday’s debate.
___
12:30 p.m.
Senate Republicans have canceled legislative work until Oct. 19 as the coronavirus sweeps through their ranks and lawmakers increasingly call for comprehensive testing on Capitol Hill.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Saturday that confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett are still on.
One by one, President Donald Trump and a series of GOP lawmakers have fallen ill with the virus that has killed more than 208,000 Americans.
Over the last week, many of the politicians who tested positive attended events at which few people wore masks and mingled in the halls and tunnels of the Capitol complex.
Just since Friday morning, Trump, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin announced that they have tested positive.
The Senate was to reconvene this week ahead of its confirmation proceedings for Barrett. McConnell has said those hearings, scheduled to begin Oct. 12, are “full steam ahead.”
___
12:15 p.m.
A person familiar with President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 illness says some of his vital signs over the past 24 hours were “very concerning” but they've improved since he was admitted to a military hospital.
The person has knowledge of the president’s medical condition but was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
It contradicted Trump’s doctors, who said during a press conference Saturday that the president was doing very well and felt as though he could walk out of a military hospital. They said he had not been on oxygen Saturday or when he was with their medical team Friday, and that his symptoms were subsiding.
Trump was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday after saying he had contracted COVID-19. First lady Melania Trump also has fallen ill.
The person described the next 48 hours as critical and said there was no clear path yet on a recovery and that it could be days before he was discharged.
___
12 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s doctors say the president is doing well, is fever-free and isn't having difficulty breathing after contracting the coronavirus.
Doctors said Saturday that Trump was not on supplemental oxygen, and while he had fatigue, nasal congestion and coughing, his symptoms are now resolving and improving.
Dr. Sean Conley, Trump’s physician, refused to say whether Trump had been on supplemental oxygen at any point during his illness, saying he was not on it Saturday or Thursday or Friday while he was with the medical team from Walter Reed Medical Center.
Trump was transferred to the military hospital on Friday afternoon in what doctors say was a precaution after he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. He has not transferred powers.
Conley says the president has “a lot of work to do” and is doing it.
Doctors say the president told them: “I feel like I could walk out of here today.”
•••
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s doctor insisted Saturday that he is doing “very well” as he is treated for COVID-19 at a military hospital. But Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley and other doctors raised more questions than they answered at a briefing, leaving unclear whether the president has ever required supplemental oxygen.
Conley’s assessment was contradicted by an account provided by a person familiar with Trump’s condition, who said some of his vital signs over the past 24 hours were “very concerning” and that the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Conley said Trump has been fever-free for 24 hours as he updated the nation on the president’s condition from Walter Reed Medical Center Saturday afternoon. Trump was admitted Friday after testing positive for the coronavirus and has been undergoing treatment.
While Conley said the president is not currently on oxygen, he refused to say whether the president had ever been on oxygen, despite repeated questioning.
“Thursday no oxygen. None at this moment. And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” he said. He said that Trump’s symptoms, including a cough and nasal congestion “are now resolving and improving.”
“He’s in exceptionally good spirits,” said another doctor, Sean Dooley.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story is below:
A feverish and fatigued President Donald Trump was spending the weekend at a military hospital for treatment of COVID-19, as new cases continued to emerged among some of the president's top advisers and allies.
Trump's physician, Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, was set to update the nation on his condition from the hospital Saturday morning. The decision to have Conley brief reporters marks a change in strategy by the White House, which has so far been less than transparent about the virus's spread.
It was a reporter for Bloomberg News – not the White House — that broke news that a close aide to Trump had been infected. And aides so far have declined to share basic health information about the president, including a full accounting of his symptoms, what tests he's undertaken and the results.
In a memo released shortly before midnight, Conley did report that Trump had been treated at the hospital with remdesivir, an antiviral medication, after taking another experimental drug at the White House. He added that Trump is "doing very well" and is "not requiring any supplemental oxygen."
The White House said Trump was expected to stay at the hospital for "a few days" out of an abundance of caution and that he would continue to work from the hospital's presidential suite, which is equipped to allow him to keep up his official duties. In addition to accessibility to tests and equipment, the decision was made, at least in part, with the understanding that moving him later, if he took a turn for the worse, could send a worrying signal.
As the White House works to piece together the flurry of new infections, attention is focused in particular on last Saturday's White House event introducing Trump's Supreme Court nominee. That day, Trump gathered more than 150 people in the Rose Garden. People mingled, hugged and shook hands — overwhelmingly without masks. There were also several indoor receptions, where Trump's Supreme Court pick, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, her family, senators and others mingling in the close quarters of the White House, photographs show.
Among those who attended who have now tested positive: 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 decision for the president to leave the White House for the hospital capped a day of whipsaw events in Washington Friday. The president, who has spent months playing down the threat of the virus, was forced to cancel all campaign events a month before the election as he fought a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans and is hitting others in his orbit as well.
Trump walked out of the White House on Friday evening wearing a mask and gave a thumbs-up to reporters but did not speak before boarding Marine One. Members of the aircrew, Secret Service agents and White House staff wore face coverings to protect themselves from the president onboard the helicopter.
In a video taped before leaving for Walter Reed, Trump said, "I think I'm doing very well, but we're going to make sure that things work out." He remained fully president, all authority intact.
"Going welI, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!" he wrote in his first tweet from the hospital Friday night.
Trump first revealed that he had tested positive in a tweet about 1 a.m. Friday — hours after he returned from a Thursday afternoon political fundraiser. He had gone ahead to the event, saying nothing to the crowd though knowing he had been exposed to an aide with the disease that has infected millions in America and killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
First lady Melania Trump also tested positive and has said she has mild symptoms. She is believed to be isolating at the White House.
Also testing positive: Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien. Campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Stepien received a diagnosis Friday and is experiencing "mild flu-like symptoms." Stepien, who joined Trump at Tuesday's first presidential debate, plans to quarantine until he recovers. On Saturday, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin became the third Senate Republican to publicly confirm testing positive in the current spate of infections, although Johnson was not at last week's Rose Garden event.
Trump's diagnosis came during an already turbulent period in Washington and around the world, with the U.S. gripped in a heated presidential election and the pandemic taking a heavy human and economic toll. Trump's immediate campaign events were all canceled, and his next debate with Democrat Joe Biden, scheduled for Oct. 15, is now in question.
Trump has been trying all year — and as recently as Wednesday — to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is past, and he has consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable. He has mostly refused to abide by basic public health guidelines — including those issued by his own administration — such as wearing face coverings in public and practicing social distancing. Until he tested positive, he continued to hold campaign rallies that drew thousands of often maskless supporters.
"I felt no vulnerability whatsoever," he told reporters back in May. With the election coming up in a month, he is urging states and cities to "reopen" and reduce or eliminate shutdown rules despite continuing virus outbreaks.
The White House tried to maintain an atmosphere of business-as-usual on Friday.
"President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day," said press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. "Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days."
The president's physician said in a memo that Trump received a dose of an experimental antibody combination by Regeneron that is in clinical trials. Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley said Trump "remains fatigued but in good spirits" and that a team of experts was evaluating both the president and first lady in regard to next steps.
Late Friday, Conley issued an update that said Trump is "doing very well" and is "not requiring any supplemental oxygen." But he said that, "in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate remdesivir therapy," an antiviral medication.
"He has completed his first dose and is resting comfortably," the doctor wrote.
The first lady, who is 50, has a "mild cough and headache," Conley reported, and the remainder of the first family, including the Trumps' son Barron, who lives at the White House, tested negative.
Trump is 74 years old and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people nationwide.
Both Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have tested negative, their campaign said. Vice President Mike Pence tested negative for the virus Friday morning and "remains in good health," his spokesman said. Pence was to resume his campaign schedule after his test.
Barrett, who was with Trump and many others on Saturday and has been on a Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers, also tested negative, the White House said. It was confirmed that she had a mild case of COVID earlier this year and has now recovered.
Many White House and senior administration officials were undergoing tests,, but the full scale of the outbreak around the president may not be known for some time as it can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test. Officials with the White House Medical Unit were tracing the president's contacts.
Trump's handling of the pandemic has already been a flashpoint in his race against Biden, who spent much of the summer off the campaign trail and at his home in Delaware, citing concern about the virus. Biden has since resumed a more active campaign schedule, but with small, socially distanced crowds. He also regularly wears a mask in public, something Trump mocked him for at Tuesday night's debate.
"I don't wear masks like him," Trump said. "Every time you see him, he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from me, and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen."