White House COVID-19 outbreak

White House COVID-19 outbreak
President Donald Trump speaking during the event held to announce Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court in the White House Rose Garden
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	White House, Washington, D.C., United States
First reported	October 1, 2020
Index case	September 30, 2020
Arrival date	September 26, 2020 (2020-09-26)
Confirmed cases	18
Hospitalized cases	2

The White House COVID-19 outbreak is a cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections in September and October 2020 among people, including government officials, who were in close contact during the pandemic in Washington, D.C. The cluster saw President Donald Trump infected and hospitalized, with numerous other high profile individuals also being infected.

The apparent cause of the cluster was a ceremony held on September 26 in the White House Rose Garden for the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, where seating was not socially distanced and participants were mostly unmasked. While Trump was likely infectious, he and his entourage attended many events unmasked, including the first presidential debate against Joe Biden. While returning to Washington aboard Air Force One, press advisor Hope Hicks was placed in quarantine after testing positive and developing symptoms. The president proceeded on schedule to a New Jersey fundraiser where he co-mingled, unmasked, with donors. Other infections included First Lady Melania Trump, Republican Senators Thom Tillis, Mike Lee, and Ron Johnson, Trump's 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien, Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel; former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway; former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; University of Notre Dame president John I. Jenkins; White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

The emergence of the cluster had a significant impact on President Trump's campaign for the 2020 presidential election, occurring little more than a month before Election Day, November 3. It also raised concerns about the continuity of government should President Trump become incapacitated and with the potential infection of Vice President Mike Pence.

Timeline of viral transmission

Background

Throughout the pandemic, Donald Trump and William Barr discouraged officials and staff from wearing masks. Those in the West Wing who did use them often faced ridicule from others. In April, the White House became one of the first locations to gain access to rapid-turnaround COVID-19 tests. In June, the White House scaled back the screening regime, but still required screening and testing for anyone coming into contact with the president or vice president.

On September 16, it was reported that at least one unnamed staffer had tested positive.

Trump met RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel at a September 25 fundraiser, and had not met with her again when she tested positive on September 30. McDaniel announced her positive test on October 2.

Rose Garden event, September 26

President Trump announcing his supreme court nomination in the Rose Garden

On September 26, 2020, an event was held in the White House Rose Garden announcing Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. More than 150 people attended; they were told they did not need to wear masks if they had tested negative that day. Chairs for the outdoor ceremony were placed side by side, and there were two crowded indoor receptions. At least seven attendees tested positive for the coronavirus in the following week, including President Trump, First Lady Melania, Mike Lee, Thom Tillis, University of Notre Dame president John I. Jenkins, former Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Barrett had suffered infection in the summer before recovering and testing negative.

Conway's daughter Claudia revealed on social media on the evening of October 2 that Kellyanne Conway had tested positive for COVID-19. The same day, Senators Lee and Tillis were revealed to have tested positive. Christie confirmed on October 3 that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Christie had been present at debate preparation for Trump as well as the nomination ceremony for Barrett. Later that day, Christie announced he was hospitalized after his condition worsened. Lee was filmed hugging other attendees while not wearing a mask. Five of these people were seated in the front three rows at the event, in close contact with other Republican senior officials. Jenkins later issued a statement saying: "I regret my error of judgment in not wearing a mask during the ceremony and by shaking hands with a number of people in the Rose Garden."

Infectious disease physician Robert L. Murphy said that if the infections are traced to the Rose Garden ceremony, they may have been started by a super-spreader (a highly contagious person), and that they could have been avoided if face masks were worn and social distancing was practiced. He said, "Whoever got this thing going is a superspreader". The outdoor portion of the event was less likely to be a super-spreader event than the indoor portion.

First presidential debate, September 29

Trump prepared for the first presidential debate with Chris Christie and 4-5 others at the White House, over the course of the three days preceding the event. Christie stated that no masks were worn. On September 29, 2020, White House personnel attended the debate at the Cleveland Clinic. At least 11 individuals involved in preparation for the event later tested positive. Despite earlier claims that all participants would be tested, debate moderator Chris Wallace later revealed that Trump and his personnel arrived too late to be tested and were instead admitted to the debate hall under "an honor system". At least three of those admitted would be diagnosed with COVID-19 in the following days: the president, the first lady, and Hope Hicks. Also in attendance were Ivanka Trump and her siblings, Donald Jr., Eric, Lara and Tiffany Trump. Prior to the debate, both campaigns agreed with Commission terms; those terms dictated that all attendees would be masked, with the exception of the two presidential candidates and the debate moderator. Masking was enforced at the door, but several of Trump's guests in the audience, including his wife Melania, his family members, and senior staff, removed their masks after entering the hall. When Trump's guests were personally offered masks by Cleveland Clinic staff, they declined.

Hicks diagnosed amid secrecy

On Wednesday, September 30, Trump went to suburban Minneapolis for a private fundraiser followed by a rally in Duluth. Hope Hicks, one of his closest advisors, was with him for the trip. The rally ended around 9 p.m. CDT.

During the return flight, Hicks exhibited symptoms and was placed in quarantine. A subsequent test reconfirmed her diagnosis as COVID-positive. Aides sensed that Trump was not feeling well during the Wednesday trip.

The White House initially sought to keep Hick's diagnosis secret, and as of the morning of Thursday, October 1, only a very small group of senior White House officials knew of Hicks' diagnosis. No mention of her diagnosis was made in the news briefing that day.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows later claimed, apparently falsely, that Hicks' diagnosis was only discovered on the following day as Marine One was departing around 4 p.m. for a fundraiser at Trump's Bedminster golf resort and said, "We pulled some of the people traveling in close contact." The event had an indoor roundtable, an indoor VIP reception, and an outdoor reception. At the fundraiser, attendees noted that Trump seemed "lethargic" and "not himself". He showed symptoms of a mild cough, some nasal congestion, and fatigue.

In the early morning hours of Friday, October 2, after learning of Trump's positive test, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins said, "Why did the press secretary [Kayleigh McEnany, on Thursday] still hold a briefing despite knowing she had come into contact with somebody who had just tested positive for coronavirus? ... She didn't even tell us. Didn't even tell reporters who were on the plane. Didn't disclose any of that."

Trump diagnosed amid secrecy

Hicks' diagnosis was first reported by Bloomberg at 8 p.m. on October 1. After returning from Bedminster, Trump received a positive test result on a rapid test and was waiting to get results of a PCR test when he did a live phone interview on Hannity. Sean Hannity of Fox News brought up Bloomberg's report about Hicks and asked for an update, whereupon Trump publicly mentioned Hicks' diagnosis for the first time, saying, "I just heard about this. She tested positive." Without disclosing that he had already tested positive, he announced that he and the first lady were being tested for the SARS-CoV-2. He repeated this via Twitter after the interview. Later that night, the result of the PCR test also came in positive.

Widespread outbreak

On October 2, it was announced that Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien tested positive. On October 3, Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, who was exposed to someone who tested positive when he returned to Washington D.C. on September 29, revealed his test for COVID-19 on October 2 was positive. He said he had been with Trump over the last several weeks. Three White House press room journalists, including Michael D. Shear, also tested positive on October 2, as did a White House staffer who works with the press. Trump's personal attendant Nick Luna also tested positive, as announced on October 3. Luna had been at the debate and on the flight to Minnesota. On Oct 4 Claudia Conway announced that she had tested positive for the coronavirus. Claudia Conway is the daughter of Kelleyanne Conway who was present at the Rose Garden and other Trump events. On October 5, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced she had also tested positive, even after having herself test negative multiple times prior to October 5 when the outbreak began.

In the wake of their exposure to White House personnel, multiple individuals announced having tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, although a negative result does not imply one is not infected. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen, presidential candidate Joe Biden, Biden's running mate Kamala Harris, Biden's wife Jill Biden, Attorney General William Barr, and Trump nominee Barrett all tested negative in the day following public revelation of the outbreak. Many of Trump's family members, including Ivanka Trump, Barron Trump, Jared Kushner, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. also received a negative result.

Presidential hospitalization

October 2

Avatar of Donald Trump

Donald Trump

@realDonaldTrump

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!

October 2, 2020

At 12:54 a.m. EDT on October 2, Trump announced via Twitter that both he and the first lady had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that night. The afternoon of the same day, the White House announced that Trump would be hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland "for the next few days" "out of an abundance of caution", on the recommendation of the medical team headed by the Physician to the President, Sean Conley. Trump, who was wearing a mask, was briefly filmed walking unassisted from the White House to the Marine One helicopter outside to transport him to Walter Reed. According to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Trump was hospitalized because he "had a fever and his blood oxygen level had dropped rapidly". The Associated Press reported that "a person familiar with Trump's condition confirmed that Trump was given oxygen at the White House" in the morning before arriving at Walter Reed, although Trump's doctors have refused to say whether he had ever been given supplemental oxygen. On Friday afternoon, doctors revealed Trump had been given an experimental course of monoclonal antibodies from drug maker Regeneron. That night, Trump received his first infusion of remdesivir. The extremely aggressive combination was described as "uncharted territory"; Trump is believed to be the first individual to ever undergo both treatments simultaneously.

October 3

'Dr. Sean Conley, Physician to the President, Provides an Update on President Trump' - video courtesy of the White House.

At an 11 a.m. press conference on October 3, Conley stated that Trump was not currently on oxygen, that he had not had a fever for the past 24 hours, and that he was "doing very well". However, minutes after the press conference, an anonymous source — later identified as Meadows — contradicted the assessment from the doctors, saying "The president's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care", adding "We're still not on a clear path yet to a full recovery." Shortly thereafter, Meadows stated on the record the president was "doing very well". On Saturday night, Conley warned that Trump was "not yet out of the woods" with regard to his condition. In the press briefing on the morning of October 3, Conley described Trump as being "just 72 hours into the diagnosis now", raising questions among journalists about when the diagnosis had actually been made, since it had been publicly announced only 36 hours previously. A 72-hour timeline would suggest that Trump actually knew he had the infection on September 30, but proceeded with his plans for a public rally that evening and a fund-raiser on October 1. Doctors also revealed that he had exhibited symptoms on October 1, including a "mild cough, and some nasal congestion and fatigue". On the night of October 3, the White House released two photos whose captions say they show him working at the hospital; he was shown signing documents but they appeared to be blank.

October 4

In an October 4 press conference, Trump's medical team claimed that he was "doing really well" after his oxygen level dipped the day before and after he was given the steroid dexamethasone, which works by reducing inflammation in the lungs. Asked if CT scans showed pneumonia or lung damage, Conley said, "There's some expected findings, but nothing of any major clinical concern." He declined to say what was found. When asked why he was reluctant to disclose that Trump had been given oxygen during the October 3 briefing, Conley stated that he did not want to "give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction" and "it came off that we're trying to hide something, which wasn't necessarily true." White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah later stated that it was "a common medical practice that you want to convey confidence, and you want to raise the spirits of the person you're treating," while also asserting that Meadows' anonymous statement to reporters was intended to "give you guys more information just to try to be as transparent as we can". The president was reported to be angry about Meadows' anonymous assessment.

Later in the day, Trump passed by a gathering of supporters at the medical center, waving from the back seat of an SUV. The visit drew sharp criticism from an attending physician at Walter Reed, who argued: "That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service."

October 5

On October 5, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19, though she experienced no symptoms.

Continuity of government implications

Trump at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 3, 2020

As of October 3, 2020, a White House spokesperson has confirmed that Trump remains active as president, and that there has been no transfer of presidential power to the vice president. Regarding Trump's hospitalization, White House strategic communications director Alyssa Farah said that he had not transferred power to Vice President Mike Pence. She said, "The president is in charge." On October 2, the Pentagon issued a statement saying, "There's no change to the readiness or capability of our armed forces. Our national command and control structure is in no way affected" by Trump's diagnosis.

On October 2, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, next in line for the presidency after Pence, said that the White House had not contacted her about continuity of government. In response, John Cohen, a former official at the Department of Homeland Security, said, "If this administration is not effective in communicating with other branches of government, with the public or the rest of the global community, it could have a seriously dangerous impact on our national security and global financial stability." Stock markets briefly slumped more than 1.5 percent after Trump announced his diagnosis, but they cut their losses after Pelosi said she anticipated an economic relief deal. The S&P 500 Index ended the day down almost 1 percent.

Some national security analysts said the president's diagnosis put the United States into "uncharted territory" and "deep into the danger zone". Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that Trump's hospitalization raises serious national security concerns and that adversaries should be expected to exploit any vulnerabilities of the United States. However, several former defense officials downplayed concerns of foreign opportunism and argued that the U.S. national security apparatus — including the nuclear command-and-control elements of that system — is resilient enough to withstand the impact of an ill or incapacitated president. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Mick Mulroy said, "Unless symptoms are severe enough for the commander-in-chief to be incapacitated, it would not require a change of the chain of command," and that it was unlikely an adversary would use the situation to "test" the U.S. Amber Smith, a former Pentagon public affairs outreach official, urged media outlets speculating on possible national security threats to "Stop promoting hysteria & disinformation". Stephen Wertheim, the deputy director of research and policy at the Quincy Institute and a foreign relations scholar at Columbia University, observed that "It seems like a uniquely American pathology to think that the president is suddenly sick and now some unnamed adversaries around the world are going to try something."

The incident has been compared to the non-fatal shooting of Ronald Reagan in 1981, which saw similar concerns over continuity of government amid incapacitation of the president.

Reactions

Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, has stated that the outbreak and specifically Trump's diagnosis would lead to more calls for transparency about Trump's health as well as conspiracy theories about how he was infected.

The response from the US public was mixed, and often split along ideological lines. Some supporters of Joe Biden said they weren't surprised that Trump and other Republicans had tested positive, due to a perceived lack of precautions from Trump and other Republican party members. Trump supporters expressed sympathy for the president. Some people, on the left and on the right, said they did not believe the diagnosis. On the news satire sketch Weekend Update, comedian Michael Che wished Trump "a very lengthy recovery".

On October 2, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said that he and Jill Biden send their "prayers for the health and safety" of Donald and Melania Trump. He took all of his negative political ads off the air following the announcement of Trump's diagnosis. His running mate Sen. Kamala Harris said that she and her husband Doug are sharing their "deepest prayers for the health and recovery of the president and the first lady." Former president Barack Obama extended his "best wishes" to Trump and said that he and Michelle Obama hope for a speedy recovery for the Trumps. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "I always pray for the president and his family that they're safe" and said that she received the news with "great sadness". Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wished Donald and Melania Trump and White House staffers a "speedy recovery".

Many politicians around the world expressed wishes for a quick recovery; others commented on the lack of response to the pandemic and the downplaying of the virus. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and others issued statements of support over the outbreak through social media. Others were more critical of the outbreak; French government spokesman Gabriel Attal warned that the virus spared no one, even those skeptical about its reality and seriousnes. Radoslaw Sikorski, a European Parliament member and former Polish foreign minister, tweeted that Trump should not try to treat himself with bleach, referring to Trump's earlier suggestion to try using disinfectants as a Covid-19 treatment "by injection inside or almost a cleaning."

Twitter announced that any posts wishing for Trump's death would be removed for violating the platform's terms of service. Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley criticized Twitter for not taking threats against them seriously, pointing to longstanding posts calling for their deaths that had not been removed. Facebook and TikTok announced similar policies.

An October 2-3 Reuters/Ipsos poll found that American disapproval of Trump's handling of the pandemic had increased from the previous week, with 65% of registered voters agreeing with the statement "if President Trump had taken coronavirus more seriously, he probably would not have been infected."

List of COVID-19 infections and notable exposures

Person	Position	Event status				Current status	Date reported
		Rose Garden Sep 26	Debate Sep 29	Duluth Sep 30	Bedminster Oct 1
Donald Trump	45th President of the United States	Present	Present	Present	Present despite exposure	Hospitalized	Oct 2
Chris Christie	Former Governor of New Jersey	Present				Hospitalized	Oct 3
Hope Hicks	Senior Counselor to the President		Present	Present	Quarantined	Positive and symptomatic	Oct 1
Mike Lee	United States Senator from Utah	Present				Positive and symptomatic	Oct 2
Thom Tillis	United States Senator from North Carolina	Present				Positive and symptomatic	Oct 2
Melania Trump	First Lady of the United States	Present	Present			Positive and symptomatic	Oct 2
Kellyanne Conway	Former Counselor to the President	Present				Positive and symptomatic	Oct 2
John I. Jenkins	President of Notre Dame University	Present				Positive and symptomatic	Oct 3
Ronna McDaniel	Chair of the Republican National Committee					Positive and symptomatic	Oct 2
Michael D. Shear	White House correspondent for The New York Times					Positive and symptomatic	Oct 2
Bill Stepien	Trump campaign manager, former White House Director of Political Affairs					Positive and symptomatic	Oct 2
Claudia Conway	Daughter of Kellyanne Conway					Positive and symptomatic	Oct 4
Nick Luna	Body man to Donald Trump			Present	Cancelled	Positive	Oct 3
Multiple unidentified staffers	White House staffers					Positive	Sep 16
Two unidentified journalists	White House press room journalists					Positive	Oct 2
11 unidentified persons	Debate preparation staff or media		Present			Positive	Oct 2
Ron Johnson	United States Senator from Wisconsin					Positive but asymptomatic	Oct 3
Kayleigh McEnany	White House press secretary	Present		Present	Cancelled	Positive	Oct 5
Jared Kushner	Trump advisor, son-in-law	Present	Present	Present	Cancelled	Negative
Ivanka Trump	Trump advisor, daughter	Present	Present	Present	Cancelled	Negative
Dan Scavino	White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Director of Social Media			Present	Cancelled	Negative
Mike Pence	Vice President of the United States	Present				Negative
William Barr	Attorney General of the United States	Present				Negative
Amy Coney Barrett	Federal appellate judge, nominee to the Supreme Court	Present				Negative (previously infected)
Joe Biden	Former Vice President, 2020 Democratic nominee for President		Present			Negative
Jill Biden	Former Second Lady		Present			Negative
Rudy Giuliani	Former Mayor of New York City, Trump advisor		Present			Negative

See also

• 2020 Donald Trump presidential campaign
• 2020 United States presidential election
• 2020 Trump Tulsa rally
• COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
• Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution