Trump aide has likely been contagious with coronavirus for at least 3 days, health expert warns
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US President Donald Trump confirmed that his top aide Hope Hicks has tested positive for coronavirus and said he and First Lady Melania Trump took a test Thursday evening.
Trump said he doesn’t know whether he has contracted the virus, saying he spends “a lot of time with” Hicks but noted she wears a “lot of masks.”
“She did test positive, I just heard about this. She tested positive. She’s a hard worker, lot of masks, she wears masks a lot but she tested positive,” the President said. during a call-in appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“So whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know.”
He added, “I just went for a test and we’ll see what happens, I mean, who knows… I spent a lot of time with Hope and so does the First Lady, and she’s tremendous.”
Trump speculated that Hicks could have contracted the virus from an interaction with a supporter.
“She’s a very warm person. She has a hard time, when soldiers and law enforcement comes up to her, you know, she wants to treat them great, not say, ‘Stay away, I can’t get near you.’ It’s a very, very tough disease,” he said.
Trump said he wasn’t sure when he would get the test results back, but indicated it would most likely be tonight or tomorrow morning.
Hicks’ positive test marks the fifth known White House coronavirus case and the closest to the President since the pandemic began.
She traveled with the President multiple times recently, including to the debate in Cleveland on Tuesday, and was seen boarding Marine One, along with several other of the President’s closest aides — Jared Kushner, Dan Scavino and Nicholas Luna — none of whom wore masks, on Wednesday as Trump was heading to a campaign rally in Minnesota.