After testing positive on Friday for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, US President Donald Trump has made a “precautionary” trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
White House Press Secretary Kelly McEnany announced on Friday that Trump would be “working at the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.”
Marine One lifts off from the White House to ferry US President Donald Trump to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after being diagnosed with COVID-19 on October 2, 2020
Early on Friday morning, 74-year-old Trump announced he and his wife, 50-year-old first lady Melania Trump, had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after Hope Hicks, a close adviser to the president, also tested positive.
The president’s suite at Walter Reed is expansive, including a kitchen, secure conference room and its own intensive care unit (ICU). The White House chief of staff and Trump’s physician also have their own accommodations on the campus. NBC reporter Scott MacFarlane noted the suites, however, are run by the White House, not the Department of Defense, meaning Walter Reed administrators do not have unrestricted access to them.
However, White House spokesperson Judd Deere made clear to reporters on Friday that Trump had “absolutely not” transferred his powers to Vice President Mike Pence during his stay at Walter Reed.
If Trump Survives, ‘He Will Try to Use That Politically’
Jim Kavanagh, a political analyst and contributor to CounterPunch and ThePolemicist.net, told Radio Sputnik’s By Any Means Necessary on Friday that Trump’s diagnosis was “ironic,” given how “nonchalant” the president has been about COVID-19.
Kavanagh noted Trump has been “talking about it contradictory ways all the time. And again, it’s all about him, all about him, all about him, and now it’s gotten to him.”
“It’s very interesting to think about how this might proceed. In terms of his health, [UK Prime Minister] Boris Johnson had this, and he was very sick. I mean, he said it could’ve gone either way. Other leaders have had it. I think the Russian prime minister [Mikhail Mishustin] had it and didn’t fare so badly. As you say, they’re going to get the best care, they’re going to get the best tests, you know, whatever can be done can be done.”
“On the other hand, I think politically, just the fact that he’s come down with it after treating it as dismissively as he has is going to reflect bad, it’s going to work badly for him politically,” Kavanagh said. “I think this is a second big hit after his performance in the debates, and I don’t think he’s going to be able to turn it to his advantage.”
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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