Trump's counselor and confidant Hope Hicks tests positive for COVID-19
President Trump's counselor and confidant Hope Hicks has tested positive for COVID-19, after two days traveling with him to Ohio and Minnesota. Just hours later, Mr. Trump announced in a tweet that he and first lady Melania Trump had also tested positive for COVID-19.
Earlier on Thursday Mr. Trump had said that he and the first lady would "begin our quarantine process" while they waited for their own test results. The White House physician confirmed in an official memo that the president and first lady tested positive for the virus, but officials have told CBS News both are feeling well.
Hicks was photographed without a mask after Air Force One landed in Cleveland for the presidential debate, and she also traveled with the president aboard Marine One and Air Force One en route to Minnesota Wednesday. Bloomberg first reported Hicks' positive test.
Hicks tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday morning, which is why she boarded Air Force One, according to a senior administration official. But she then developed symptoms some time during the day and took a second test that came back positive.
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday night, hours before his own diagnosis was confirmed, Mr. Trump said he had "just heard about" Hicks' having the virus.
The president remarked in the interview that Hicks "wears a lot of masks."
The Centers for Disease Control recommends that anyone who comes into contact with a positive person self-isolate for 14 days.
People close to the president are tested regularly, but the CDC recommends mask-wearing and social distancing when possible. The White House has often bucked that guidance. Top White House staff frequently do not wear masks while working together in close quarters.
Mr. Trump, at 74 years of age and with at least one underlying condition, is by definition at a higher risk for complications from the virus.
Few who work in the White House are closer to the president than Hicks, who has been by his side since the early days of his campaign, with the exception of a two-year stint at Fox Corporation in Los Angeles. Hicks returned to the White House earlier this year. She is one of the president's most trusted advisers.
Hicks also traveled this week with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, senior adviser Dan Scavino, national security adviser Robert O'Brien, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Trump campaign aide Jason Miller, Trump campaign chairman Bill Stepien and Trump counselor Derek Lyons.
Nicole Sganga contributed to this report.
