insiderblmDonald Trump and his wife Melania have tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Just hours after it was confirmed the president’s advisor Hope Hicks has the highly contagious virus, the president, 74, announced he too had tested positive.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” Trump tweeted Thursday.
Melania, 50, later tweeted that she and her husband are “feeling good.”
“As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I are quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19,” she tweeted.
“We are feeling good & I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please be sure you are staying safe & we will all get through this together.”
The White House has canceled all of the president’s scheduled engagements for Friday except for a phone on COVID-19 support for vulnerable seniors.
The president’s doctor Sean Conley said the couple is “well at this time and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.”
“Rest assured I expect the president to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering, and I will keep you updated on any future developments,” Conley added in a statement shared by the White House Press office.
Trump had spoken publicly about Hicks’ positive test result earlier on Thursday evening, telling Fox News it is a “terrible thing.”
Trump added that both he and First Lady Melania Trump had been tested and were expecting their results shortly.
“So whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know,” Trump said.
The president said he thought Hicks may have contracted the virus by interacting with members of law enforcement or the military.
“But it’s very, very hard when you are with people from the military or from law enforcement and they come over to you, they want to hug and they want to kiss you because we really have done a good job for them, you get close and things happen,” he said.
“I was surprised to hear with Hope but she’s a very warm person with them and she knows there is a risk.”
The former public relations consultant, 31, traveled with Trump as recently as Wednesday to his campaign rally in Minnesota. She was also on Air Force One with Trump when he traveled to the presidential debate against Joe Biden on Tuesday.
In a tweet posted after his Fox interview, Trump said that both he and the first lady would be quarantining together as they await the results of their COVID-19 tests: “Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!”
When asked by PEOPLE about Hicks’ positive test and Trump’s possible exposure Thursday, White House spokesman Judd Deere did not have a comment, instead issuing the following statement:
“The President takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously. White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the President is traveling.”
More than 7.3 million people in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 200,000 people across the country have died from the virus, according to The New York Times’ database.
Despite health experts’ repeated recommendations to wear masks to prevent the virus’ spread, Trump seldom wears a mask in public and has been criticized for his response to the ongoing pandemic.
