WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The White House physician says his medical team has “elected to initiate Remdesivir therapy” for President Donald Trump as the president receives treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical.
Remdesivir, an FDA-authorized drug, has been shown to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster.
Dr. Sean Conley says Trump is “doing very well” and is “not requiring any supplemental oxygen.”
In Trump’s first tweet from Walter Reed since being transported there Friday night, the president wrote, “Going welI, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!”
The White House said Trump’s expected hospital stay of “a few days” was precautionary and that he would continue to work from the hospital’s presidential suite, which is equipped to allow him to keep up his official duties.
Trump walked out of the White House Friday evening wearing a mask and gave a thumbs-up to reporters but did not speak before boarding Marine One. Members of the aircrew, Secret Service agents and White House staff wore face coverings to protect themselves from the president onboard the helicopter.
In a video taped before leaving for Walter Reed, Trump said, “I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out.” He remained fully president, all authority intact.
Just a month before the presidential election, Trump’s revelation that he was positive for the virus came by tweet about 1 a.m. Friday after he had returned from a Thursday afternoon political fundraiser. He had gone ahead to the event, saying nothing to the crowd though knowing he had been exposed to an aide with the disease that has infected millions in America and killed more than a million worldwide.
First lady Melania Trump also tested positive, the president said, and several others in the White House have, too, prompting concern that the White House or even Trump himself might have spread the virus further. He said in his video that his wife was doing very well.
Several administration officials pointed to the Saturday Rose Garden announcement of Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court as the possible connection between cases that spanned Washington Friday. Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, the president of the University of Notre Dame, and at least two Republican lawmakers who were also present at the event — Utah Sen. Mike Lee and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis — announced Friday they had tested positive and were isolating.
Also testing positive: Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien. Campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh confirmed news, first reported by Politico, that Stepien received a diagnosis Friday and is experiencing “mild flu-like symptoms.” Stepien, who joined Trump at Tuesday’s first presidential debate, plans to quarantine until he recovers.
The White House tried to maintain an atmosphere of business-as-usual on Friday.
“President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” said press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.”
The president’s physician said in a memo that Trump received a dose of an experimental antibody combination by Regeneron that is in clinical trials. Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley said Trump “remains fatigued but in good spirits” and that a team of experts was evaluating both the president and first lady in regard to next steps.
Late Friday, Conley issued an update that said Trump is “doing very well” and is “not requiring any supplemental oxygen,” But he said that, “in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate Remdesivir therapy,” an antiviral medication.
“He has completed his first dose and is resting comfortably,” the doctor wrote.
The first lady, who is 50, has a “mild cough and headache,” Conley reported, and the remainder of the first family, including the Trumps’ son Barron, who lives at the White House, tested negative.
Trump is 74 years old and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people nationwide.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
