President Trump was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to return to the White House on Monday evening to continue his fight against the novel coronavirus, after his medical team warned that he “may not entirely be out of the woods yet.”
Dressed in a navy suit and tie and wearing a face mask, Trump walked out of Walter Reed on his own. Upon walking out the doors of the hospital, he made a low fist pump and gave a thumbs up to the press as he got into a black SUV to head to Marine One.
The president teased his return to the White House Monday afternoon, saying he is “feeling really good!”
“Don’t be afraid of Covid,” the president tweeted. “Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge.”
He added: “I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”
Trump appeared to have his reelection campaign at the forefront of his thoughts shortly before departing Walter Reed, promising his followers on Twitter that he will be back on the stump soon and blasting polls that show him trailing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The president left Walter Reed on Monday evening after White House physician Dr. Sean Conley hosted a press conference detailing the president’s progress and condition as he battles COVID-19.
“The president may not entirely be out of the woods yet,” Conley said, but said that his “clinical status supports the president’s safe return home,” where he said he will be surrounded by medical staff “24/7.”
Conley added that the president met “most of his discharge requirements” on Sunday afternoon.
“We try to get patients out of the hospital as quickly as possible,” Conley said. “There is nothing being done here that we can’t safely do at home.”
He added: “We all remain cautiously optimistic and on guard because we’re in a bit of uncharted territory when it comes to a patient who received the therapies he has.”
Conley added that HIPAA prevents him from discussing some details about the president’s health.
Another member of the president’s medical team said that his heart rate, as of Monday, was measured at 68 beats per minute, and that he had a 97% blood oxygen level. A normal blood oxygen reading is between 95 and 100%.
Conley also told reporters Monday that the president has not been on fever-reducing medicine for over 72 hours.
The medical team also said that the president does not have any “respiratory complaints,” and will receive his fourth round of Remdesivir before he departs Walter Reed Monday evening. The team said that the president will receive his final dose of Remdesivir at the White House on Tuesday.
Conley stressed that Trump will receive “world class medical care” at the White House, saying “we’re not going to miss anything we would have caught up here,” while maintaining that the president is “back.”
The president was admitted to Walter Reed on Friday evening after experiencing what the White House, at the time, described as “mild symptoms.”
Conley said that the president was “a little dehydrated” on Friday, upon being admitted to Walter Reed, and had a fever.
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On Friday, according to a White House official, there was “real concern” about his “vitals.”
The president also has faced health scares throughout his battle with COVID-19, including two instances in which his blood oxygen level dropped suddenly. Doctors treated the president with a dose of the steroid dexamethasone in response.
Conley said that Trump had a “high fever” and a blood oxygen level below 94% on Friday and during “another episode” on Saturday.
But by Saturday, Conley said the president’s cardiac, kidney and liver functions were normal, and that the president was not on oxygen and was not having any difficulty breathing or walking.
Conley said over the weekend that the president had received an antibody cocktail, as well as zinc, Vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin, along with his five-day course of Remdesivir.
Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive for COVID-19, tweeted Monday, saying she is “feeling good.”
“My family is grateful for all of the prayers & support!” she tweeted Monday. “I am feeling good & will continue to rest at home.
“Thank you to medical staff & caretakers everywhere, & my continued prayers for those who are ill or have a family member impacted by the virus,” the first lady added.
Also on Monday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19.
“After testing negative consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms,” McEnany said in a statement. “No reporters, producers or members of the press are listed as close contacts by the White House Medical Unit.”
Other White House staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 at this point include senior adviser Hope Hicks and director of Oval Office operations Nick Luna. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien also tested positive for COVID-19.
Former counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway has also tested positive and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who participated in debate prep with the president recently, did too and was admitted to the hospital over the weekend.
McEnany said Sunday that the White House would not be releasing the names or the exact number of staffers who have become infected with the novel coronavirus, citing privacy concerns.
“There are privacy concerns,” McEnany said. “We take seriously safeguarding the information of personnel here in the White House.”
The president and first lady announced they tested positive for COVID-19 early Friday, just before 1 a.m., after it was revealed that Hicks tested positive on Thursday.
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