Trump news: President rips off his mask as soon as he arrives back at White House after walking out of hospital

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Donald Trump says he will visit supporters despite coronavirus infection

Donald Trump has been discharged from Walter Reed Medical Centre after his doctors declined to reveal key details about his condition and said he wasn't "out of the wood".

Trump didn’t respond to questions as he left the hospital, saying only “thank you” before ignoring a reporter asking how many White House staff were infected and if he was a super spreader of coronavirus.

On arriving at the White House, Trump took off his mask to salute and pose for photos in front of American flags as Marine One took flight.

The president's return to the White House came after he earlier told America not to be afraid of Covid-19 as the country's death toll climbed over 210,000 and the number of positive cases among the president's inner circle reached 16.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and pastor Greg Laurie, who was at the Scotus Rose Garden event, were the two latest to announce a positive diagnosis on Monday.

As he prepared to end his 72-hour hospital stay, Trump began his morning furiously tweeting from his sick bed after attracting widespread condemnation over his “irresponsible” drive-by of supporters on Sunday evening.  

"RUDE!!!", the president called it. But the criticisms even came from within the president's circle, with Donald Trump Jr reported by Vanity Fair to want an intervention over the "crazy" motorcade stunt and tweet storm.

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, said their intention is for the president to make the second presidential debate on 15 October, which Joe Biden has also agreed, calling on the president listens to the science and make a nationwide mask rule.

Key Points

• Trump takes off mask and give double-thumbs up as he enters White House
• Thumbs up and double fist pump - Trump leaves hospital
• Backlash as Kayleigh McEnany tests positive for coronavirus
• Trump motorcade stunt labelled ‘irresponsible’ by Walter Reed physician
• President tweets in all caps from hospital about abortion, space and tax

[5 October 2020 12:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump bashes out string of all-caps tweets before 7am

Er, nurse? Are you sure he’s OK?

[5 October 2020 12:10 · Joe Sommerlad]

And still he tweets…

We’ve had 12 in this format now - before most of America is even out of bed, absently eating their cornflakes.

Someone should definitely check on him.

This might be an opportune moment to point you in the direction of this round-up of everything we know about his condition at this juncture.

[5 October 2020 12:20 · Joe Sommerlad]

Republican senator says ‘no doubt’ Supreme Court nomination hearing will continue as undergraduates sign letter of concern

Speaking to Maria Baritromo on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures, Arkansas’s Tom Cotton insisted he has “no doubt” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell will press ahead with the Amy Coney Barrett nomination hearing before Election Day, despite three GOP senators - Mike Lee, Thom Tillis and Ron Johnson - all testing positive, putting their “yes” votes in jeopardy.

Barrett’s unveiling in the White House Rose Garden last weekend, at which no masks were worn and social distancing measures were non-existent, appears to have been the superspreader event that sparked this particular crisis.

But Senator Cotton is unphased.

"What I can say is that everyone is eager to be at work when they need to be at work, they're on the [Senate] Judiciary Committee a week from tomorrow either in person or virtually to have the confirmation hearings for Judge Barrett, and then to have the vote on Judge Barrett this month," he told Bartiromo.

"None of this should have any impact on schedule of the Senate, either on the Judiciary Committee or the Senate as a whole," he continued, adding: "No doubt about it, Maria."

Meanwhile, more than 1,500 alumni of the small liberal arts school from which Coney Barrett graduated in 1994, have made it known they are not proud of their ties to the conservative lawyer and judge.

Here’s more on the undergraduates of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.

[5 October 2020 12:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

Mike Pence’s campaign role grows at key moment

A penny for the vice president’s thoughts in these strange times - not least in response to that mad run of tweets we’ve just seen from his boss.

As things stand, Trump is apparently still on track for release today, according to Fox and Friends:

Here’s a look at him finding himself pushed to the forefront of the campaign as Trump is housebound by sickness of unknown severity.

[5 October 2020 13:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump fans play Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ outside Walter Reed without realising what lyrics mean

The red-capped patriots of MAGA World continued to be confused about the Boss’s signature song, it appears, hearing only a tub-thumbing ode to the Stars-and-Stripes and not a scathing critique of the country’s failure to support its traumatised returning war veterans.

Jacob Stolworthy has this one.

[5 October 2020 13:20 · Joe Sommerlad]

Proud Boys founder shows up at hospital rally to support Trump

Hey far-right hate wrangler Gavin McInnes, when this president told you to “stand by” at last week’s debate, I don’t think he literally meant “…my hospital bed” but thanks for making it clear the white supremacists continue to have his back.

Meanwhile, rather wonderfully, their name has been stolen on Twitter by the LGBT+ community to mean “Boys at Pride”.

[5 October 2020 13:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

Memorial held outside White House in honour of more than 200,000 Americans killed by Covid

The US has now suffered over 7.44m cases of coronavirus and almost 210,000 deaths, a fifth of the world’s total from four per cent of its population, a grim milestone observed in DC over the weekend.

[5 October 2020 14:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

John Oliver says Trump's response to Covid-19 diagnosis has been ‘appalling’

The late night host has also been going after Republicans for their “hubris and denialism” of recent days.

[5 October 2020 14:05 · Joe Sommerlad]

Chief of staff ‘optimistic’ president will leave hospital today amid concern he could expose staff to infection

Mark Meadows has issued a statement to Fox News saying Trump "continued to improve overnight and is ready to get back to a normal working schedule.” 

He added the president “will meet with his doctors and nurses this morning to make further assessments of his progress."

But regardless of how Trump personally feels - is this entirely wise? 

He surely still poses a considerable threat to staff as carrier.

Danielle Zoellner has the latest.

[5 October 2020 14:25 · Joe Sommerlad]

Doctors question safety of Trump leaving hospital today

"For someone sick enough to have required remdesivir and dexamethasone, I can't think of a situation in which a patient would be OK to leave on Day Three, even with the White House's medical capacity," says Robert Wachter, chairman of the University of California at San Francisco's department of medicine.