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Friday, April 19, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Trump ‘Still Not on a Clear Path to a Full Recovery’

Contradicting a rosy report from President Donald Trump's doctor on Saturday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the president's health the past 24 hours was "concerning" and the next 48 hours "will be critical in terms of his care."

(CN) — Contradicting a rosy report from President Donald Trump's doctor on Saturday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the president's health the past 24 hours was "concerning" and the next 48 hours "will be critical in terms of his care."

"We're still not on a clear path to a full recovery," Meadows told reporters on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Trump's doctors held a press conference at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Trump had reportedly been given oxygen at the White House before he was transported to the hospital Friday, according to media reports

Dr. Sean Conley said the president had been without a fever for 24 hours, but refused to answer whether Trump had been placed on oxygen Friday. Trump, 74 and clinically obese, is at a higher risk based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Thursday no oxygen. None at this moment. And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” Conley said.

Conley and other doctors failed to go into greater detail other than to say the president's coughing and nasal congestion had improved. The press conference also raised questions as to when Trump was first diagnosed and treated. 

Conley initially said the president was 72 hours into diagnosis, meaning he would have been confirmed to have Covid-19 on Wednesday. Conley later released a statement saying he had misspoke.

On Saturday afternoon, Trump took to Twitter to praise the hospital staff and said he was feeling well.

"Doctors, Nurses and ALL at the GREAT Walter Reed Medical Center, and others from likewise incredible institutions who have joined them, are AMAZING!!!Tremendous progress has been made over the last 6 months in fighting this PLAGUE. With their help, I am feeling well!" he wrote.

Later in the evening, Trump posted a video on his Twitter account saying that he was "starting to feel good."

“You don’t know, over the next period of a few days, I guess that’s the real test. So we’ll be seeing what happens over those next couple of days,” the president said.

The news comes as more people close to the president confirmed over the weekend that they tested positive for Covid-19.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced Saturday that he tested positive for the coronavirus. Christie helped Trump prepare for last Tuesday's debate.

“I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two,” Christie tweeted.

Christie was one of several attendees at a White House event last week announcing Trump's nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Christie joins the ever growing list of infected from the president's inner circle, including aide Hope Hicks, former aide Kellyanne Conway and Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien.

Categories / Government, National

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