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Post by Admin on Oct 2, 2020 5:50:49 GMT
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus, the President announced early Friday morning, an extraordinary development coming months into a global pandemic and in the final stretch of his reelection campaign.
The diagnosis amounts to the most serious known health threat to a sitting American president in decades. At 74 years old, Trump falls into the highest risk category for serious complications from the disease, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans and more than 1 million people worldwide.
His infection with the disease could prove destabilizing in an already fraught political climate, and stock market futures tumbled on news of Trump's infection.
"Tonight, @flotus and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!" Trump tweeted shortly before 1 am Friday.
Trump was last seen in public on Thursday afternoon returning to the White House after a fundraising trip to New Jersey. He did not appear ill, though did not speak to reporters as he walked into his residence.
In a memo issued to reporters around 1 a.m. ET, the President's physician, Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, wrote he received confirmation of the positive tests on Thursday evening.
"The President and First Lady are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence," Conley wrote.
"The White House medical team and I will maintain a vigilant watch, and I appreciate the support provided by some of our country's greatest medical professionals and institutions," Conley wrote, without elaborating what assistance was being provided to the White House.
"Rest assured I expect the President to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering, and I will keep you updated on any further developments," he wrote.
The President had said late Thursday night that he planned to quarantine after one of his closest aides tested positive for the infection.
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Post by Admin on Oct 2, 2020 19:17:26 GMT
News that the world’s most powerful man was infected with the world’s most notorious disease drew instant reactions of shock, sympathy, undisguised glee and, of course, the ever-present outrage and curiosity surrounding everything about President Donald Trump.
Trump's announcement Friday, on Twitter, that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, and the deep uncertainty that accompanied it, flashed across screens large and small, upending countless plans and sparking comment everywhere from presidential offices to the thousands looking to weigh in on social media.
The positive test reading for the leader of the world’s largest economy adds more uncertainty to investors' worries, especially about its effect on the Nov. 3 election between the Republican president and Democrat Joe Biden. U.S. stock futures and most world markets fell on the news as did the price of oil.
World leaders were quick to weigh in, with official sympathy from the top and something approaching schadenfreude elsewhere. Trump joins a growing list of the powerful who have contracted the virus, including many who were skeptical of the disease.
“I hope that your inherent vitality, good spirits and optimism will help you cope with the dangerous virus,” Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in a direct message to Trump released by the Kremlin.
World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted “My best wishes to President @realdonaldtrump and @flotus for a full and speedy recovery.” The Trump administration in July formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from WHO, although the pullout won’t take effect until next year. Trump claims the U.N. health agency is in need of reform and is heavily influenced by China.
Italian right-wing opposition leader Matteo Salvini tweeted: “In Italy and in the world, whoever celebrates the illness of a man or of a woman, and who comes to wish the death of a neighbor, confirms what he is: An idiot without soul. A hug to Melania and Donald.″
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Post by Admin on Oct 2, 2020 22:07:57 GMT
President Trump’s positive test for COVID-19 threw the presidential campaign into confusion with just over a month before Election Day.
Among the many questions that immediately arose, the most serious revolved around what happens to the nation’s government if a nominee for president is incapacitated or dies so close to an election. That has never happened before in American history.
And with Democrat Joe Biden’s prolonged exposure to Trump during the debate on Tuesday night, Democrats also face similar questions.
Each party’s committee, the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee, has the authority to reconvene its members (the RNC has 168 and the DNC has 447) and pick a new nominee. But with time so short before the election, there would be little likelihood of them picking anyone other than Trump’s and Biden’s running mates: Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris, respectively.
The problem is that each state has already printed out its ballots, and in fact more than 2.2 million Americans have already voted. Untold millions of ballots have also already been mailed to voters across the country.
In other words, the horse appears to be out of the barn when it comes to the candidates on the ballot. There’s no reprinting them.
If either Trump or Biden were incapacitated or died, voters would likely go to the polls or send in their mail ballots and use Trump’s or Biden’s name as a proxy for the vice presidential candidates, meaning to signal their support for Pence or Harris.
But that’s not a certainty. In fact, this scenario would open the door to potential intervention in the election by some state legislatures.
Rick Hasen, a law and political science professor at the University of California, Irvine, wrote late Thursday, “There would be a question if legislatures would allow presidential electors of each state to vote for someone other than the deceased candidate.”
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Post by Admin on Oct 2, 2020 23:07:35 GMT
CNBC.com's MacKenzie Sigalos brings you the day's top business news headlines. Today, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for Covid-19. CNBC's Meg Tirrell and Brian Schwartz dissect Trump's movements over the past week, along with the testing procedure the White House has been using for visitors, as "After Hours" dives into full coverage of this developing story.
President Donald Trump was headed to the hospital Friday after he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19, raising fresh questions about the president's health.
Trump, 74, was going to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, in what aides said was a precautionary move. Officials said they expected him to be there for a few days.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president "remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day." WA
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Post by Admin on Oct 3, 2020 4:32:34 GMT
President Trump was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday hours after he announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The White House said in a statement that Trump was being taken to the hospital in Bethesda, Md., by helicopter as a “precautionary measure,” and the president was seen walking to Marine One. He is expected to stay there for a few days.
“President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” the White House said in its statement. “Out of an abundance of caution ... the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.”
Before departing for the hospital, Trump recorded a video message, which he posted to his Twitter account.
“I want to thank everybody for the tremendous support. I’m going to Walter Reed hospital. I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out,” Trump said in the video. “The first lady is doing very well, so thank you very much, I appreciate it, I will never forget it. Thank you.”
Hours earlier, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the president “remains fatigued but in good spirits” and had taken an experimental treatment of polyclonal antibodies made by the pharmaceutical manufacturer Regeneron as well as ulcer medication to suppress stomach acid. Trump, 74, is reported to be suffering from fever, chills, cough and congestion, and medical experts say that COVID-19 poses serious risks for the president.
The sudden developments have shaken Washington and the world. On Thursday, Trump had traveled to a closed-door fundraiser at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., where he interacted with roughly 100 donors though he appeared tired. After leaving the event, he announced on Twitter that his senior adviser Hope Hicks had tested positive for COVID-19. A second tweet early Friday confirmed that he and first lady Melania Trump had also tested positive.
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