UPDATE 7:34 p.m. ET: President Trump tested negative for the coronavirus, his doctor said in a memo released Saturday evening.
Original story …
President Donald Trump was finally tested Friday night for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, he said Saturday, while adding that his temperature remains “totally normal.”
It’s unclear when his test results will be released to the public. They’re currently being processed by a lab, Trump said.
The president said he felt the test was necessary after several reporters grilled him about it Friday afternoon, because he’s come into contact with several people who have been either diagnosed or quarantined since the first U.S. case of COVID-19 surfaced in late January.
“I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday, people were asking: Did I take the test?” Trump said.
READ: All the people who may have exposed Trump to coronavirus
Trump indicated Friday that he’d “most likely” get tested at some point, although he said he wasn’t symptomatic. (A person can be infected with the virus and spread it to others despite not showing symptoms like a dry cough or fever, although it’s a less likely form of transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)
White House officials — including Trump’s own physician — continued to insist late Friday that Trump didn’t need to be tested for the incredibly contagious illness, although Fábio Wajngarten, a top aide to Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive after briefly interacting with the president at Mar-a-Lago last weekend.
Acting Brazil Ambassador Nestor Forster, who sat at Trump’s dinner table last Saturday, also tested positive, according to the Washington Post.
Reporters and officials streaming into the White House — Trump included — also had their temperatures taken Saturday morning before gathering in the briefing room, and one reporter was reportedly removed.
READ: Don’t believe these 4 wild coronavirus conspiracy theories
Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump responds to reporters’ questions as he exits the press briefing room at the White House on March 14, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump also told reporters he was tested for the novel coronavirus Friday night but did not reveal the results and said he did not know when he would get them. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
