Journalists have been racing to cover President Donald Trump’s health developments since he tested positive for COVID-19 early Friday, a situation made even more difficult when the White House declined to hold a briefing until Saturday morning. Dr. Sean Conley, physician to the president, said at the press event that Trump was “doing very well” after an overnight stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Yet the White House press pool received a different message shortly after the rosy address. “The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” a source familiar with Trump’s health told reporters. “We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.” (The source was revealed fairly quickly to be chief of staff Mark Meadows.) The doctor’s timeline about when the president became sick is reportedly in question, too.
The “official cone of silence that seems to exist” around Trump’s condition has largely left the media dependent on anonymous sources for their coverage, CNN’s Brian Stelter notes. Senior aide Hope Hicks’ positive result — which kicked off the chaos — was reportedly something that Trump officials wanted to keep from the public, only to find the news leaked to Bloomberg News. The leaks that have emerged since then, Stelter writes, have been the media’s best insight into what’s going on inside the White House. Through anonymous sources, the public has learned that Trump was “spooked” after testing positive and became increasingly so “as he developed symptoms, like a fever, overnight”; that he is having some difficulty breathing; that the White House coronavirus task force is “in the dark” about Trump’s health; and that there is concern among his aides about who else may be sick.
When the White House has spoken publicly about the situation, they have insisted there is no reason for concern. Meadows previously told reporters that Trump is experiencing “mild symptoms” that have not impacted his presidential fitness. “He continues to be not only in good spirits but very energetic,” Meadows said, adding that when he spoke with the president “a number of times” earlier that morning, it was business as usual.
Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany framed the president’s trip to Walter Reed Medical Center, where he traveled to later that day, as standard procedure. “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,” she said, a statement followed by an optimistic tweet from Trump himself, which CNN writes “did not reflect the inherent severity of the situation,” adding: “It remains extremely rare for a president to overnight in hospital, given the extensive medical facilities available at the White House.”
As viewers watched Trump board Marine One for the medical center on Friday, CBS chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett said he was “utterly mystified” why the White House had yet to hold a press briefing, rejecting McEnany’s statement as an acceptable update for the American public. “You do not create and leave open a vacuum with speculation about what is going on. You explain at the podium, and you have the physician take questions from lots of reporters,” said Garrett, a precedent that prior administrations have followed in the face of presidential illness. “This is an imperative … This country needs to know what is happening right now.” The New York Times editorial board issued a similar call for disclosure on Friday. “The potential for chaos is exponential,” a crisis that the White House can minimize by keeping the public “closely apprised” in the coming days. “The president’s health is not a private matter. Americans need to have confidence that Mr. Trump is in a position to handle the nation’s business — and, if not, that he will hand over the reins to the vice president until his condition improves.”