Tag: Trump White House

Trump’s personal valet tests positive for coronavirus

The president and the vice president have since tested negative, the White House said Thursday.

WASHINGTON — One of President Donald Trump’s personal valets, who works in the West Wing serving the president his meals, among other duties, has tested positive for the coronavirus, the closest the virus is known to have come to the president, a White House official said.

Since the White House medical unit was made aware of the case, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have both tested negative, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Thursday. The White House did not say when the valet developed symptoms or when the president was last exposed to the individual

The news was first reported by CNN.

After learning that one of his valets was infected, Trump became “lava level mad” at his staff and said he doesn’t feel it is doing all it can to protect him, according to a person close to the White House. Continue reading.

Trump meets harsh reality with coronavirus threat

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s flirtation with disbanding the White House coronavirus task force is just the latest reflection of his eagerness to put the coronavirus pandemic behind him and turn his focus to the economy.

Yet Trump’s eagerness to move on keeps running into reality.

The idea of disbanding the coronavirus task force was quickly abandoned; Trump said he got calls from “very respected people” who said it would be better to keep it open. Continue reading.

Trump’s treasury secretary attacks Axl Rose’s patriotism but mixes up US and Liberian flags

The Guns N’ Roses frontman exchanged words with Steve Mnuchin on Twitter about the Trump administration’s coronavirus response

It has been said that people in glass houses should not throw stones. But that didn’t stop Steve Mnuchin, the US treasury secretary, from shooting straight at Axl Rose yesterday.

The Guns N’ Roses frontman (real name William Bruce Rose Jr) has recently aired his frustrations on Twitter about the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus. But this time, Rose engaged in a simple bit of name-calling.

To be fair to Mnuchin, the name-calling seemed pretty uncalled for. It’s been at least three days since Mnuchin did something stupid (like encourage US citizens to start traveling domestically during a pandemic); and at least a decade since he practically caused the financial crash. Continue reading.

White House reporter reveals alarming truth about Trump’s coronavirus response

A White House correspondent revealed that President Donald Trump’s disjointed response to the coronavirus crisis was largely driven by media coverage.

Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire appeared Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where co-host Mika Brzezinski asked why the president had changed his mind on winding down his coronavirus task force one day after floating that possibility.

“Does he know that when you talk about shutting down a task force one day, and 24 hours later, you say people called him, that he is thinking and flying by the seat of his pants?” Brzezinski asked. “Does he know he is exposing himself by the day, as to not being fully connected with the gravity of this problem? Is anyone helping him?” Continue reading.

Azar faulted workers’ ‘home and social’ conditions for meatpacking outbreaks

On a call with members of Congress, health secretary defended conditions inside the meat plants, three participants say.

The country’s top health official downplayed concerns over the public health conditions inside meatpacking plants, suggesting on a call with lawmakers that workers were more likely to catch coronavirus based on their social interactions and group living situations, three participants said.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar told a bipartisan group that he believed infected employees were bringing the virus into processing plants where a rash of cases have killed at least 20 workers and forced nearly two-dozen plants to close, according to three people on the April 28 call.

Those infections, he said, were linked more to the “home and social” aspects of workers’ lives rather than the conditions inside the facilities, alarming some on the call who interpreted his remarks as faulting workers for the outbreaks, the people said. Continue reading.

Military official who serves as Trump valet tests positive for coronavirus

The Hill logoA member of the U.S. military who serves as a valet for President Trump has tested positive for the coronavirus, underscoring the threat of the virus to top officials in Washington, D.C., even as the president insists the country must start to reopen.

“We were recently notified by the White House Medical Unit that a member of the United States Military, who works on the White House campus, has tested positive for Coronavirus,” deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement. “The President and the Vice President have since tested negative for the virus and they remain in great health.”

CNN first reported that the individual who tested positive is a member of the U.S. Navy who serves as one of the president’s personal valets. The network reported that the individual started exhibiting symptoms on Wednesday morning. Continue reading.

Kayleigh McEnany Derides Mass Testing, But She’s Tested Every Week

President Donald Trump has no plan for stopping COVID-19 from ravaging the country, so he expects the rest of us to simply continue on with our lives — no matter the cost.

But there is a plan in place for him to avoid the virus. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and those around them are frequently being tested for the coronavirus to keep White House leadership safe, even while testing for regular Americans remains inadequate.

Among those who are tested regularly in the president’s inner circle is White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, according to the New York Times:

At the White House, Mr. Trump’s new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, reinforced the impression that administration officials were getting preferential treatment when she delivered her first news briefing on Friday — without a mask. She is among the group of senior officials tested weekly, as all assistants and deputy assistants to the president are, an official said on Friday. Aides who are lower in rank are tested based on how often they are in proximity to Mr. Trump.

Continue reading.

Trump and some top aides question accuracy of virus death toll

Axios logoPresident Trump has complained to advisers about the way coronavirus deaths are being calculated, suggesting the real numbers are actually lower — and a number of his senior aides share this view, according to sources with direct knowledge.

What’s next: A senior administration official said he expects the president to begin publicly questioning the death toll as it closes in on his predictions for the final death count and damages him politically.

  • The U.S. death toll has surpassed 71,000, with more than 1.2 million confirmed cases, according to the latest figures.
  • Trump’s engagement could amplify a partisan gulf we saw in this week’s Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index over believing the death statistics.

Reality check: There is no evidence the death rate has been exaggerated, and experts believe coronavirus deaths in the U.S. are being undercounted — not overcounted. Continue reading.

Betsy DeVos announces new rules on campus sexual assault, offering more rights to the accused

Washington Post logoEducation Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday released a sweeping new directive governing how schools must handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment, granting new rights to the accused and handing colleges a clear but controversial road map to navigating these highly charged investigations.

The new rule bars universities from using a single official to investigate and judge complaints, a popular model, and instead creates a judicial-like process in which the accused has the right to a live hearing and to cross-examine accusers.

The rule also adds dating violence and stalking to the definition of sexual harassment. But it otherwise offers a narrow definition of harassment, requiring that it be severe and pervasive, as well as objectively offensive. Continue reading.

Trump backs off plans to wind down task force after backlash

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Wednesday said he backed off plans to dissolve the White House coronavirus task force after public outcry, saying he didn’t realize how “popular” the group of medical experts and government leaders was.

“I thought we could wind it down sooner,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office event recognizing National Nurses Day. “But I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday when I started talking about winding down. … It is appreciated by the public.”

Trump said he received calls from “very respected people” who urged him to keep the task force intact. Continue reading.