Doctors to rule on Trump discharge, but spokeswoman Covid positive

Doctors were to decide Monday whether to discharge Donald Trump from hospital but news that the president’s spokeswoman had also tested positive for Covid-19 underlined the out-of-control spread of the virus through a chaotic White House.

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced her positive result in a statement saying that she had tested negative ever since Trump’s own diagnosis last week but “I tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms.”

McEnany — the combative, main public interface between Trump and the media, giving daily television interviews and holding frequent briefings — said that no journalists were believed to have come into close contact with her.

The news rammed home just how infected the White House has become.

Cases now include Trump’s wife Melania, his close aide Hope Hicks, his campaign manager Bill Stepien, and more than half a dozen others from the president’s circle both inside and outside the White House.

Despite this, Trump made clear he’s itching to get out of hospital and back to the campaign trail with the clock running down on his hopes of beating Democrat Joe Biden on November 3. (AFP | Sebastian Smith)