Despite a second White House staffer testing positive for COVID-19 this week, President Donald Trump has continued to undermine social distancing efforts. As the Washington Post reports, new protocols were put into place to secure the White House complex over the past two days, during which a military valet to the president and Katie Miller, the press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence, tested positive. Yet Trump was without a face mask on Friday when he met with a group of World War II veterans—all in their 90s—to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. When asked by a reporter about his choice to not wear a mask around elderly people at higher risk of the virus, Trump said no and that he “was very far away.” He added that he “would have loved to have gone up and hugged them because they’re great” and that “the wind was blowing hard in such a direction that if the plague ever reached them, I’d be very surprised.”
Trump attended the meeting less than an hour after Pence’s plane took off for Des Moines, a trip that was delayed for more than an hour as two aides who had been in close contact with Miller were removed from Air Force Two out of precaution. While the White House said Pence and the aides tested negative for the virus, the Post notes that Miller has attended almost all of the White House coronavirus task force meetings—during which almost no aides wore masks—in the Situation Room, prompting concern for who else Miller interacted with. During an event with GOP members, the president sent conflicting messages, suggesting that “the whole concept of tests isn’t great” while also claiming “I don’t worry about things” and that “we’re dealing with an invisible situation. Nobody knows.” According to several security officials, not wearing a mask—which Pence and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have followed suit— and gathering with guests for photo-ops at the White House speaks to Trump’s repeated efforts to minimize the public health crisis.
“This is a show of bravado,” a former security official told the Post. “If he backtracks now, and starts wearing a mask, it will contradict the red meat he’s feeding to his base constantly. This is the first health crisis that has been politicized.”
Trump has remained confident in the safety measures that the White House has taken in the face of coronavirus, even as several members of the Secret Service have tested positive. As Yahoo News reports, Department of Homeland Security documents expose the virus to be more widespread than the administration had previously acknowledged, with 11 active cases within the agency as well as 23 members of the Secret Service who have recovered from COVID-19 and an additional 60 employees who are self-quarantining. While Secret Service spokesperson Justine Whelan said that the agency “continues to follow guidelines issued by the CDC to ensure the health and welfare of our employees and those they come in contact with,” Yahoo notes that measures taken at the White House have not necessarily followed such guidelines, with many Secret Service employees on the White House complex among those not wearing a mask. And while temperature checks have been occurring for everyone entering the White House, testing has been partial, with reporters entering the Oval Office without being required to wear masks or being given tests. This remains true even as the virus seems to spread within the White House: Yahoo reports that the press covering the event where Trump discussed Miller’s diagnosis were not given tests before being brought into the State Dining Room.
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