Trump leaves hospital briefly to greet supporters outside

BETHESDA, Maryland (AP):

President Donald Trump declared, “I get it”, in a message to the nation Sunday evening before briefly leaving the hospital to salute cheering supporters from his motorcade. The surprising move raised new questions about his understanding of the deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 209,000 Americans.

Hours earlier, the president’s medical team reported that his blood oxygen level dropped suddenly twice in recent days. The doctors also said his health is improving and that he could be discharged as early as Monday.

“It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID,” Trump said, standing in his hospital room in a video posted on social media. “I learned it by really going to school.”

He added, “I get it, and I understand it.”

At least one medical professional inside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Trump has been hospitalised since Friday evening, questioned whether Trump had really learned anything about the virus that has swept through Republican leadership.

“Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theatre. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity,” Dr James P. Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed, tweeted.

TREATMENT

Trump’s doctors revealed Sunday that they gave the president a steroid treatment typically only recommended for the very sick. But they sidestepped questions about exactly when Trump’s blood oxygen dropped – an episode they neglected to mention in multiple statements the day before – or whether lung scans showed any damage.

It was the second straight day of confusion and obfuscation from a White House already suffering from a credibility crisis. And it raised questions about whether the doctors treating the president were sharing accurate, timely information with the American public about the severity of him condition.

Pressed about conflicting information he and the White House released on Saturday, Navy Commander Dr Sean Conley acknowledged that he had tried to present a rosy description of the president’s condition.

“I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude of the team, that the president, that his course of illness has had. Didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction,” Conley said. “And in doing so, came off like we’re trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true. The fact of the matter is that he’s doing really well.”