President Donald Trump is in quarantine after White House adviser Hope Hick tested positive for COVID-19.
Hicks is the closest aide to Trump to test positive so far to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which originated from Wuhan, China.
The president confirmed the news during a phone interview Thursday night with Fox’s Sean Hannity.
“I just went out for a test,” the 74-year-old president said. “It will come back later I guess, and the first lady also because we spend a lot of time with Hope and others.
“Whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know,” he told Hannity.
He later confirmed on Twitter and Facebook that he and the first lady were going into quarantine.
“Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19,” Trump wrote. “Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!”
Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
The president told Hannity during the interview, “It’s very, very hard when you are with people from the military or from law enforcement, and they come over to you and they want to hug you and they want to kiss you because we really have done a good job for them, and you get close and things happen.
“I was surprised to hear with Hope, but she’s a very warm person with them, and she knows there’s a risk.”
As a counselor to the president, working with the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, Hicks recently traveled with Trump to a campaign rally in Duluth, Minnesota, on the presidential helicopter Marine One on Wednesday.
Bloomberg, the outlet first to report the news of the positive COVID-19 test by citing unnamed sources from the White House, noted that all of the president’s staff wear masks when traveling with him aboard Marine One. Hicks was wearing a mask when flying with Trump this week.
“She’s a hard worker, a lot of masks,” Trump said. “She wears masks a lot, but she tested positive.”
Hicks was also traveling with the president aboard Air Force One on Tuesday night to the first presidential debate.
A White House official told CBS News, “Contact tracing has been done and the appropriate notifications and recommendations have been made.”
The Associated Press had reported that an administration official said Hicks tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
Hicks previously served as White House communications director and re-joined the administration this year ahead of the election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
