President Donald Trump's condition has apparently deteriorated. Trump, who admitted to being COVID-19 positive early Friday morning, was flown to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the presidential helicopter at about 6:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. The White House has said Trump will be admitted to the hospital as a coronavirus patient.
Trump walked out of the White House wearing a face mask, along with his chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, also wearing a face mask. The flight to Walter Reed only took seven minutes. Marine One touched down at the South Lawn of the White House at about 5:20 p.m.
The official White House statement said nothing about Trump's true condition, however. It painted an unrealistically rosy picture of Trump, who "remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day."
"Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days," said press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
"President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the First Lady."
The dramatic emergency flight capped a day in which the White House consistently downplayed Trump's true condition by releasing a slow drip of information in tidbits.
Before he was flown to Walter Reed on Marine One, the White House issued a statement saying Trump was experiencing a moderate case of COVID-19 in which he had developed a fever for the entire day.
The previous statement described Trump's condition as "mild." It said Trump "remained fatigued but in good spirits." Trump and his wife, Melania, have been quarantined at the White House since both tested positive.
Concern Trump might be getting worse was triggered by a statement from Dr. Sean Conley, the physician to the president, saying Trump was receiving an experimental and non-approved polyclonal antibody cocktail treatment made by American biotech firm, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Trump could have been given remdesivir, which has received an emergency use authorization from the federal government, or convalescent plasma instead of this unproven therapy, contends Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN.
Dr. Gupta said resorting to this experimental cocktail is "telegraphing some level of concern" among the White House medical staff. He said indications Trump might need to be hospitalized included Trump having difficulty breathing and being beset by chest pains.
Dr. Gupta also said the call to take Trump to Walter Reed is the right one considering Trump's medical condition.
Trump is a 74 year-old clinically obese man with high cholesterol. These pre-existing conditions make him more vulnerable to COVID-19. Trump has also admitted he hardly exercises and doesn't control his diet.
Indications all wasn't well with Trump was bolstered by the fact he hadn't tweeted at all since making the announcement of his positive COVID-19 test.
Media outlets report to receiving no formal briefing from White House about Trump's true condition. Instead, they've received gotten information from Trump sycophants such as Meadows who earlier said Trump was feeling "very energetic."
As a result, media has been forced to piece things together from the tidbits of information being fed them by a White House apparently still concerned about controlling the messaging to the public.
On the seven minute-long flight to Walter Reed, Trump tweeted a video of himself in the White House where he said he was alright, would go to Walter Reed and thanked people for their concern. He said he thinks he's doing very well.
