President Trump hid the results of his first positive COVID-19 test on Thursday while awaiting the results of a second test that would later also come back positive, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
People familiar with the president’s health told the newspaper that a rapid COVID-19 test returned a positive result before President Trump called in to Fox News for an interview with Sean Hannity on Thursday evening. During the interview, Trump addressed the diagnosis of his aide Hope Hicks with coronavirus but did not reveal that he had apparently already tested positive.
In a tweet hours later, just before 1 a.m. Friday, Trump announced his own diagnosis after a second test performed using a deeper nasal swap also returned positive results.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” he wrote in the tweet.
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The Journal also reported that Trump told at least one aide to keep their own positive test results secret.
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Asked later Sunday whether the president was tested before the presidential debate on Tuesday or before he attended a fundraiser in New Jersey on Sunday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany declined to say.
“Yeah, I’m not going to give you a detailed readout with timestamps every time the president’s tested. He’s tested regularly and the first positive test he received was after his return from Bedminster,” she said.
“I’m not giving a detailed readout of his testing. But safe to say, his first positive test was upon return or at least after Bedminster.”
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Trump sought to keep COVID-19 diagnosis secret Thursday as he awaited second test result: report https://t.co/6c25lbq7L2 pic.twitter.com/I4eiOsh4gj
— The Hill (@thehill) October 5, 2020
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