President Trump tested negative for the coronavirus, the White House announced Saturday evening.
Sean Conley, the physician to the president, said in a memo, “This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative.” The information was released with Trump’s permission, Conley said.
Trump told reporters earlier in the day in the White House briefing room that he took a coronavirus test on Friday night and was awaiting results.
The president began facing questions about taking a test for the coronavirus after it was revealed that an aide to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, with whom Trump came into close contact last weekend, later tested positive for COVID-19.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Thursday that neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence would “require” testing for COVID-19 after meeting with the Brazilian delegation at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
In making her case, Grisham said the president did not have an extended interaction with Brazilian press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, who tested positive for the illness.
Both Wajngarten and Bolsonaro attended a dinner with Trump and Pence at the resort in South Florida, taking several photographs with them. Reports on Friday said Bolsonaro tested positive for the virus, but the Brazilian president, along with his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, denied the “fake news” reports and said he tested negative.
“One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free. I have been in daily contact with the CDC and White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the supplementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation,” Conley wrote in his memo Saturday.
During the White House Coronavirus Task Force news briefing Saturday afternoon, Pence said he had not yet been tested.
“I’m going to speak immediately after this press conference with the White House physician’s office,” Pence said. “Mrs. Pence and I would be more than happy to be tested.”
Two lawmakers opted to quarantine themselves as a precautionary measure after being in close proximity to Wajngarten at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last weekend. They were Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rick Scott of Florida.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that people may exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 two to 14 days after being infected.
Nearly 153,000 people have tested positive for the virus around the world, killing at least 5,700 people, according to the New York Times. In the United States, there are more than 2,400 confirmed cases of the virus, which has killed at least 50 people.
