Donald Trump did not disclose a positive result from a rapid test for Covid-19 on Thursday before appearing on Fox News, according to the Wall Street Journal, while he was awaiting the results of a more complete screening.
Instead, Mr Trump told the network that an aide had tested positive and mentioned that he was waiting on results from the second test he took that night.
“I’ll get my test back either tonight or tomorrow morning,” the president told Fox. At 1am on Friday, he tweeted that he and the First Lady Melania Trump had confirmed cases of the virus.
According to the WSJ, Mr Trump’s testing followed White House protocols meaning that because his rapid test came back positive, he was then given a second, more reliable test which takes a sample from deeper in the nasal passage.
The newspaper also reported that Mr Trump asked an adviser not to make public that they were positive for Covid-19.
The coronavirus outbreak was so cloak-and-dagger that Mr Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, was unaware Hope Hicks had tested positive until seeing news reports. Mr Stepien also subsequently reported that he himself has Covid-19.
‘I’m glued to Twitter and TV because I have no official communication from anyone in the West Wing,’ one administration official told the WSJ.
While it hasn’t been determined where the president contracted the virus, Amy Coney Barrett’s supreme court nomination ceremony in the White House Rose Garden last weekend is being eyed as a “super-spreader” event.
The list of those in Mr Trump’s inner circle who have tested positive for the coronavirus continues to grow, with his “body man”, personal assistant Nicholas Luna, testing positive hours after Mr Trump and the First Lady, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Former adviser Kellyanne Conway, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, along with three GOP senators - Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina - have all tested positive for Covid-19.
