Trump wants to reassure Americans after days of mixed signs on his health

In a memorandum issued on Saturday evening, the President’s physician, Drs. Sean Conley said the president remains “fever-free and supplemental oxygen off,” adding that “the team is not out of the woods yet, the team remains cautiously optimistic.”

Mr Trump’s Kovid-19 diagnosis casts doubt on his ability to confirm a new Supreme Court nominee, canceling the presidential campaign with only 30 days until further election day and claiming 209,000 American lives Aroused fresh concern about the virus. White House officials and presidential aides said Mr. Trump performed his presidential duties despite his illness.

Mr. Trump addressed the public A four-minute video was posted on Twitter on Saturday, Stating that he felt much better and said he wanted to recover quickly so that he could end the presidential campaign. The president said he had no choice but to go out publicly during the epidemic, stating that he was prepared to risk contracting coronovirus to lead the country. “I can’t be locked up in a room,” he said.

The White House is expected to provide additional updates on the president’s position on Sunday. “I spoke with the president. President Trump is fully engaged and fully in charge, ”White House press secretary Kayle McNee said in an email.

Early Saturday, colleagues offered mixed signals on the severity of his infection and colleagues tried to indicate that he was still at work. The White House has distributed photographs stating that Mr. Trump is working with Walter Reed. On a brief Saturday, the president’s physician said his symptoms were improving and he was free of fever for 24 hours, but a person close to the president said that the next 48 hours would be crucial to his recovery.

If the President’s condition were to deteriorate, he could temporarily transfer power to Vice President Mike Pence under the 25th Amendment. Such a transfer has occurred only three times in American history, when the then presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush faced the colonists. In other incidents, such as Mr. Reagan being shot and undergoing emergency surgery in 1981, the power was not formally transferred.

Mr. Pence was expected to remain at the US Naval Observatory, his northwest Washington, DC, residence until he leaves for Salt Lake City, Utah on Monday, where he will attend the Vice President’s debate on Wednesday . Following the debate, he is scheduled to continue in Arizona for a campaign rally. The Trump campaign said attendees would be provided with masks to encourage them to wear and undergo temperature checks.

So far, at least eight individuals who were close to Mr. Trump in the past week have tested positive for Kovid-19, a disease caused by coronovirus, including First Lady Melania Trump, former White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway , Includes the Trump campaign. Manager Bill Stephen and former New Jersey government. Chris Christie. Mr Christie checked himself into a hospital on Saturday as a precaution, citing an increased risk from the virus as a result of his asthma.

Republican Censor. Mike Lee of Utah, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, as well as Republican National Committee Chairman Rona McDaniel and Rev. John Jenkins, University of Notre Dame president, also tested positive. Many of those who tested positive attended the Rose Garden ceremony last Saturday where Mr. Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee. Little social disturbances or masks were used in this incident.

The White House on Saturday prompted widespread confusion with conflicting accounts coming from the administration about the president’s health. Dr. Soon after Conley gave a positive outlook for the president, a person familiar with Mr. Trump’s position struck a different tone in comments distributed to reporters.

The man said that Mr. Trump’s vitals during the last 24 hours were very concerning and that the next 48 hours would be important. “We are still not on a clear path to a full recovery,” the person said.

The comment was provided to White House correspondents in a pool report attributed to an anonymous source. The Associated Press later attributed the quotes to Mr. Meadows. The White House did not confirm that Mr. Meadows made the statement.

Dr. Saturday’s press conference in front of Conley’s Walter Reed also caused confusion. Dr. Conley cited the president as being 72 hours into his diagnosis, which would set the date for his positive test on Wednesday.

A White House official later said that Drs. Conley stated that it was the third day since the president was diagnosed on Thursday night, not 72 hours had passed since his diagnosis. In a memorandum hour following the conclusion of his briefing on Saturday, Drs. Conley said the president was diagnosed on the evening of October 1, which was Thursday.

During the briefing on Saturday, Drs. Conley said the president’s symptoms of a mild cough, nasal congestion and fatigue were improving and he had no fever for 24 hours. But he did not give a date for the president’s release and, despite repeated pressures, refused to give a definitive answer on whether Mr. Trump ever received supplemental oxygen.

Mr Trump was hospitalized on Friday after a positive Kovid-19 test on Friday, for him and Mrs Trump were reported to have tested positive by White House adviser Hope Hicks.

As Mr. Trump canceled trips to Florida and Wisconsin, it remained unclear whether or not the president would be able to return to the campaign trail and whether he would participate in the remaining two debates with Democratic rival Joe Biden. Mr. Biden tested negative for the virus on Friday, his campaign said.

While many Kovid-19 patients recover without suffering serious illness, Mr. Trump is at greater risk of the virus at age 74, as does his obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people in their 60s and 70s are “at a higher risk for serious illness than people in their 50s.”

Write Andrew on [email protected] and Andrew Restukia on Catherine Lucey. Restuccia_wsj.com