WASHINGTON _ Many patients spend their convalescence chatting with friends on the phone or binge-watching guilty pleasures on television.
Four days after he checked himself out of the hospital for a worrying case of COVID-19, President Donald Trump is mixing that formula up: giving interviews to friendly TV and radio anchors, dropping the F-bomb and complaining that even his longtime supporters in the media don't treat him fairly anymore.
Since taking office, Trump has always relied on calls to credulous Fox News hosts and Rush Limbaugh, where he got unstinting support and preached mostly to his base. But now, confined to the White House while recovering, Trump is trying to resuscitate his flagging reelection campaign and infected body on live television.
Trump called in to a "virtual rally" on Limbaugh's radio show for two hours Friday then planned to appear on Mark Levin's talk show, and then later let a Fox contributor, Dr. Marc Seigel, question him from afar in a faux medical exam on Tucker Carlson's prime-time show.
The second day of his Fox News blitz _ Trump also did two one-hour calls to Fox hosts on Thursday and plans another on Sunday _ underscores how his close media ties have enabled him to remain in an information bubble, where even his most outlandish claims are taken seriously and sometimes promoted.
Eager to erase the image of a COVID-stricken patient as the election draws near, Trump also made plans to address hundreds of invited guests Saturday from a White House balcony.
Attendees will be required to bring masks and will "instructed" to wear them, though not required, according to an official with knowledge about Saturday's event who requested anonymity to discuss planning. Guests will also be asked questions about their health and have their temperatures taken, but will not be given a COVID test, the official said.
Trump also will host a campaign rally in Sanford, Florida, on Monday, according to White House and campaign officials, marking the president's first travel since he tested positive for coronavirus on Oct. 1 and was rushed to the hospital the next day with COVID-19.
The gatherings are certain to draw scrutiny given Trump's uncertain health _ the White House has refused to say if he has tested negative for the coronavirus _ and the potential risks to Trump's supporters, many of whom don't wear masks or practice social distancing.
The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, would not say Friday if Trump needs to test negative before he returns to the campaign trail to avoid infecting anyone.
"There are medical tests underway that will ensure that when POTUS is back out there, he won't be able to transmit the virus," she said on Fox.
Numerous people who attended a crowded White House event on Sept. 26, when Trump introduced Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, have since tested positive for the virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease authority, labeled that assembly a "superspreader event in the White House" Friday in a CBS News Radio interview.
The White House has said nothing about first lady Melania Trump's health since she tested positive for the coronavirus eight days ago and tweeted that she had mild symptoms.
Her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, did not respond Friday to questions about her recovery, saying in an email only, "She's doing well."
On Thursday, Trump's physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said that Trump appeared on track to be able to safely return to public life on Saturday. That was a shift from several days ago, when Conley said Trump would need to stay in isolation until at least Monday. He did not explain why he moved up the timeline.
At least in his radio and TV interviews, Trump reverted to form _ lashing out at not only his political opponents, but also at some of his closest aides, in disjointed tirades based on conspiracy theories.
At one point, Trump falsely accused Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, of executing a baby. He also vilified Sen. Kamala Harris of California, the Democratic nominee for vice president and the first Asian American and Black woman on a national ticket, as a "monster."
But Trump also raged against two of his most loyal Cabinet officers, Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo.
Even as Fox gave Trump a daylong soapbox 25 days before the election, he groused to Limbaugh that Fox was "no longer the same" since Roger Ailes, the network's founder, died in 2017.
Changes at Fox were "the biggest difference" for his campaign, compared with 2016, Trump declared, not acknowledging the role of the pandemic that has killed 212,000 Americans this year. He then ticked through a list of the Fox anchors he liked and disliked.
After Limbaugh began his broadcast by playing "God Bless the U.S.A.," Trump's rally walk-up music, and a recording of rallygoers chanting "We love you," Trump reprised his hyperbolic boasts and grievances against Democrats and most other media.
"They don't cover any good stuff with me," the president complained.
When the topic turned to Iran, Trump used a profanity and warned Tehran not to cause trouble or the U.S. would "do things to you that have never been done before." The obscenity was not played on Limbaugh's syndicated radio show but was heard online by his paid subscribers.
