WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) – White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Saturday Donald Trump’s health, including a fall in his blood oxygen level, had left the president’s doctors “very concerned” but that he had improved and there was never a risk he would have to hand over power.
Meadows’ comments to Fox News capped a day of back-and-forth in which conflicting reports about the president’s health created an opaque understanding of the leader’s actual fitness.
“He’s made unbelievable improvements from yesterday morning, when I know a number of us, the doctor and I, were very concerned,” Meadows said.
Trump’s doctors said he has had no fever since Friday morning, however, and could be discharged as early as Monday. Conley declined to answer questions about the president’s lungs, including whether there is scarring or whether Trump has pneumonia.
Aides and doctors have sowed confusion in recent days about Trump’s health status and the timeline of his treatment and diagnosis. The White House on Sunday falsely suggested that doctors did not previously disclose Trump’s use of supplemental oxygen because they lacked the information.
Later Sunday, Trump made a surprise visit to supporters, waving to them from inside an SUV that slowly drove past the crowds gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The outing alarmed Secret Service agents and medical professionals, including a doctor affiliated with Walter Reed who said others in the car were risking their lives for “political theater.”
Multiple aides called President Trump’s Sunday drive outside the hospital an unnecessary risk but said the move was not surprising, as White House spokesman Judd Deere defended the outing, telling reporters that “appropriate precautions were taken.”
The trip drew criticism from Secret Service agents and from doctors, who said it put others in the car at risk, exposing them to a coronavirus patient in an enclosed space. Trump wore a mask as he waved to the crowd outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, but experts said they were still deeply concerned.
Trump had said he was bored in the hospital and was buoyed by crowds outside, advisers said. Campaign and White House officials said the president wanted to show strength after White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows offered a grimmer assessment of Trump’s health than doctors at a Saturday news briefing.
Deere told reporters that “appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the President and all those supporting it.”
He said precautions included personal protective equipment and added that the trip “was cleared by the medical team as safe to do.”
He did not answer other questions, including whether the president requested the drive. — NNN-AGENCIES
