Donald Trump gives COVID-19 update in Twitter video from hospital
Oct 3, 2020, 4:41 PM | Updated: 6:34 pm
In this Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, photo President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., after attending a fundraiser at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
PHOENIX – President Donald Trump posted a video to Twitter on Saturday speaking from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in which he expressed optimism in the battle against COVID-19 for both himself and first lady Melania Trump.
“I’m starting to feel good,” he said. “Over the next period of a few days, I guess that’s the real test, so we’ll be seeing what happens over those next couple of days.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020
Trump said that he was given the choice of staying in the White House, but elected to go to the hospital and work in the presidential suite instead of being contained to his quarters.
“I just didn’t want to stay in White House. I was given that alternative: Stay in the White House, lock yourself in, don’t ever leave, don’t even go to Oval Office. Just stay upstairs and enjoy it, don’t see people, don’t talk to people … I can’t do that,” he said. “I had to be out front.”
Trump’s appearance grants a brighter light on his condition than mixed messages that have come out of the White House communications team Saturday. Dr. Sean Conley said Saturday morning that Trump was doing “very well,” but chief of staff Mark Meadows said Trump had gone through a “very concerning” period on Friday and that the next two days will be “critical.”
“We’re still not on a clear path yet to a full recovery,” Meadows said.
While Trump emphasized that he feels his condition has improved, he echoed that the upcoming days will provide further clarity on his condition and recovery efforts.
“(I’m) doing well and I think we’re going to have a very good result. Over the next few days we’re going to probably know for sure,” he said. “So I just want to thank everybody out there, everybody, all over world, specifically the United States. The outpouring of love has been incredible.”
Conley told reporters that Trump’s symptoms included a mild cough, nasal congestion and fatigue. The president’s blood oxygen level was at 96%, in the normal range. The Associated Press reported that Trump had been given oxygen at the White House on Friday morning before departing for the hospital.
Since arriving to Walter Reed, Trump was given a dose of Regeneron and began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug currently used for moderately and severely ill coronavirus patients.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
