Trump news: President rips off his mask as soon as he arrives back at White House after walking out of hospital
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Donald Trump has been discharged from Walter Reed Medical Centre after his doctors declined to reveal key details about his condition and said he wasn't "out of the wood".
Trump didn’t respond to questions as he left the hospital, saying only “thank you” before ignoring a reporter asking how many White House staff were infected and if he was a super spreader of coronavirus.
On arriving at the White House, Trump took off his mask to salute and pose for photos in front of American flags as Marine One took flight.
The president's return to the White House came after he earlier told America not to be afraid of Covid-19 as the country's death toll climbed over 210,000 and the number of positive cases among the president's inner circle reached 16.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and pastor Greg Laurie, who was at the Scotus Rose Garden event, were the two latest to announce a positive diagnosis on Monday.
As he prepared to end his 72-hour hospital stay, Trump began his morning furiously tweeting from his sick bed after attracting widespread condemnation over his “irresponsible” drive-by of supporters on Sunday evening.
"RUDE!!!", the president called it. But the criticisms even came from within the president's circle, with Donald Trump Jr reported by Vanity Fair to want an intervention over the "crazy" motorcade stunt and tweet storm.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, said their intention is for the president to make the second presidential debate on 15 October, which Joe Biden has also agreed, calling on the president listens to the science and make a nationwide mask rule.
Ronald Reagan’s daughter has criticised the White House for giving “sketchy details and evasive answers” about Trump’s condition
Patti Davis made the accusations as she recalled her own experience after her father was shot and hospitalised in March 1981.
“When you're president, privacy is not an option, including, and maybe especially, privacy about your health,” wrote Ms Davis in the Washington Post. “That's a lesson my father's administration understood, and that Donald Trump and his advisers still need to learn.”
Graeme Massie has more on this.
Ronald Reagan’s daughter hits out over ‘sketchy’ Trump health details
Patti Davis said father’s administration always tried to be honest over health
Biden and Trump campaigns agree on one thing: Attacking that NYT as publishing fake news
The Biden campaign’s director of rapid response just called The New York Times fake news. Or, to be precise, even worse than the original real fake news of The Onion.
Who knew this would be the issue that got bi-partisan support from Trump and Biden campaigns.
This snapshot of alignment will likely only last as long as there are negative stories the campaigns are unhappy with.
On this occasion, it’s from the NYT saying Biden’s campaign has been “cagey on health questions”, which have taken on new significance since Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis and the ex-veep’s prolonged exposure to the president.
"Mr Biden, who is ahead in national polls and many battleground state surveys, still faces the possibility of a positive test,” the Times wrote. It later added: “[Biden] is continuing to campaign rather than quarantine, and his campaign has been cagey about his health protocols.”
Here’s what Andrew Bates had to say in response.
Trump will leave hospital any moment now
You know what that means - more fake news.
Thumbs up and double fist pump - Trump leaves hospital
The president has left the Walter Reed Medical Centre building. Exiting through the golden doors, Donald Trump did a walk-by of waiting media, pausing briefly to give a thumbs up and a double fist pump.
While casual observers may view that as a form of non-verbal communication while wearing a mask, we await for QAnon to decipher the intricate code buried within the presidential sign-language.
Trump didn’t respond to questions, saying only “thank you” before not responding to reporter asked how many White House staff were infected and if he was a super spreader of coronavirus.
Frame by frame of Trump returning to White House
CBS reporter Mark Knoller was right in the spot as Trump left Walter Reed.
Trump takes off mask and give double-thumbs up as he enters White House
Here is some very grainy feed from NBC News zooming in from distance.
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