By Matthew Muir | Copy Desk Chief
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump both tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday night. The news comes just two hours after the president’s announcement that the pair would go into quarantine after close contact with senior adviser Hope Hicks, who also tested positive Thursday.
Trump announced the positive tests in a tweet sent late Thursday night. Trump also said he and the first lady would “begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately,” and that the pair would “get through this TOGETHER!”
Hicks, one of the president’s closest advisers, traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from Cleveland for the presidential debate, and then to a Minnesota rally Wednesday. It is unclear as of yet when exactly President Trump contracted the virus and who else may have been exposed to him or the first lady.
A letter from White House physician Sean Conley confirmed the diagnosis and said both the president and first lady were “well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.”
Conley also said the White House medical team is receiving support from “some of our country’s greatest medical professionals and institutions,” and that he expects President Trump to “continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering.”
