Coronavirus: Donald Trump Jnr in isolation after testing positive
- The US president’s son is asymptomatic for Covid-19, according to a spokesman, and is the latest case linked to the White House
- Rudy Giuliani’s son Andrew, a White House aide, has also tested positive, but the president’s personal lawyer tested negative
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“Don tested positive at the start of the week and has been quarantining out at his cabin since the result,” his spokesman said.
“He’s been completely asymptomatic so far and is following all medically recommended Covid-19 guidelines,” the spokesman said of the 42-year-old.
Trump Jnr’s positive test follows infections for a string of others in his family, including his father, who was hospitalised, the president’s wife Melania and their youngest son Barron. Donald Jnr’s girlfriend, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, also tested positive in July.
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Several White House staffers have tested positive for the disease in recent weeks, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, while six members of Congress have tested positive this week.
“This morning, I tested positive for Covid-19,” said the younger Giuliani, who joined the Trump White House’s Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs in 2017. “I am experiencing mild symptoms, and am following all appropriate protocols, including being in quarantine and conducting contact tracing.”
Andrew Giuliani attended his father’s press conference on Thursday at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, according to multiple reports. The elder Giuliani and other Trump campaign lawyers spoke without masks from an indoor podium, to an audience of dozens.
Jenna Ellis, another Trump lawyer who spoke at the press conference said on Twitter on Friday that she and the elder Giuliani “have both tested negative for Covid-19” and would follow the advice and protocols of their doctors.
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In the days after the vote, Trump Jnr called for his father to go to “total war” against what he calls electoral fraud despite no evidence to support the claim.
Like his father he has also consistently downplayed the pandemic, telling Fox News as the virus surged around the country last month that deaths from Covid-19 had fallen to “almost nothing”.
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The Trump administration has been heavily criticised for its response to the pandemic and for downplaying the dangers.
Many in the crowds at his pre-election rallies were often maskless and not abiding by social-distancing rules.
They were a sharp contrast with Biden’s drive-in rallies and his scrupulous mask-wearing.
On Monday, the president-elect expressed frustration over Trump’s refusal to cooperate on the White House transition process, saying “more people may die” of coronavirus without immediate coordination on fighting the pandemic.
With Trump refusing to concede defeat, Biden and his team have been unable to coordinate with government officials on crucial continuity of issues like national security, but also on emergencies like a distribution plan for Covid-19 vaccines to tens of millions of Americans.
Current US numbers – more than a quarter of a million deaths have been reported – have alarmed authorities enough to advise that people stay home for next week’s Thanksgiving holiday, when Americans usually travel to be with their families.
New York City has shut down schools for its 1.1 million students, while California will impose a 10pm to 5am curfew from Saturday.
There was however a new sign of hope on Friday as US biotech giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech sought approval to roll out their coronavirus vaccine early.
Additional reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg
