by John Solomon
“I think I’ll be back soon,” President Trump said Saturday evening in a four-minute video from Walter Reed Medical Center, where the president is being treated for COVID-19.
Seated at a desk flanked by flags, the president offered words of guarded confidence, optimism and reassurance — about his own heath and the state of the larger national and international battle against the global pandemic.
“We’re gonna beat this coronavirus — or whatever you want to call it — and we’re going to beat it soundly,” vowed the president, looking relaxed and informal in a blue jacket and crisp, open-necked white shirt.
“So many things have happened” in the fight against the virus, the president noted. “If you look at the therapeutics, which I’m taking right now — some of them — and others coming out soon … frankly they’re miracles.”
Indirectly addressing questions about a paused presidential campaign thrown abruptly into uncertainty during its homestretch, the president said, “I look forward to finishing up the campaign the way it was started and the way we’ve been doing — and the kind of numbers we’ve been doing.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020
The president’s optimism echoed the tone sounded earlier in the day by White House Physician Dr. Sean Conley.
President Trump is doing “very well” while being treated for COVID-19 at Walter Reed, Conley said at a press conference Saturday morning, with his medical team “extremely happy” with how he has responded to care, including a course of the experimental COVID-19 treatment Remdesivir.
The president is in “exceptionally good spirits,” Walter Reed physician Sean Dooley said during the conference. His cardiac functions are normal, and he is not currently on supplemental oxygen, Dooley added.
Conley noted that Trump has been “fever-free for over 24 hours.” When asked, he would not speculate on the timeline for Trump’s discharge from the medical facility, though he said the medical team is evaluating the president’s medical status “every day” to determine when he can return to the White House.
Trump began treatment Friday night with the experimental coronavirus drug Remdesivir, with Conley at the time reporting that he was doing well.
“This evening I am happy to report that the President is doing very well. He is not requiring any supplemental oxygen, but in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate Remdesivir therapy. He has completed his first dose and is resting comfortably,” Conley said on Friday.
Shortly before midnight on Friday, Trump tweeted from his hospital bed that he was feeling OK and thanked his well wishers.
“Going well, I think!” Trump tweeted. “Thank you to all. LOVE!!!”
