President Trump rides by his supporters outside Walter Reed throwing the media news cycle into overdrive. In a showcase of American strength, Trump is creating prime time political television.
An extraordinary scene in Bethesda, Maryland. President Trump took a short, last-minute motorcade ride to wave at his supporters who gathered outside Walter Reed. In a video he posted beforehand, he said that he had a little surprise but no one was expecting a drive-by greeting to supporters.
President sat in the black SUV, wearing a mask just moments after he tweeted ” I learned a lot about COVID. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn’t the let’s read the books school. I get it and I understand it. It’s a very interesting thing, I’ll be letting you know about it.”
The protective press pool was not informed of this ahead of time, and the White House correspondents have not been called back to the White House or Walter Reed. No matter how small the event is, the White House is obligated to let the reporters know. This is a standing practice and WHCA has issued a statement saying that is outrageous that during the national health crisis, the press has not been informed about the president’s drive-by.
WHCA: It is outrageous for the president to have left the hospital — even briefly — amid a health crisis without a protective pool present to ensure that the American people know where their president is and how he is doing. Now more than ever, the American public deserves independent coverage of the president so they can be reliably informed about his health.
According to Judd Deere, Trump has now returned to the Presidential Suite inside Walter Reed.
In a brief encounter with reporters, Press Secretary was insistent that she will not provide much detail about the timeline of Trump’s testing.
“I’m not going to give you a detailed readout,” McEnany said.
McEnany: The 1st positive test he received was after his return from Bedminster. Not giving a detailed readout of his testing, but safe to say his first positive test was upon return–or at least after Bedminster.
To mitigate the risk against getting infected with COVID19, the Secret Service Agents who were in the presidential SUV were wearing protective eyewear, N92 masks, and some sort of a protective gown.