President Donald Trump's fight with Covid-19 has so far not convinced him to prioritize a responsible approach to a pandemic that has killed 209,000 Americans over his own political needs, CNN reports in its article As Trump's condition makes headlines, America's pandemic is getting worse. Trump staged an extraordinary drive-by photo-op Sunday in front of supporters gathered with flags and banners outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The stunt, which risked exposing Secret Service agents riding in his armored SUV, amounted to a familiar flouting of government recommendations to stop the spread of the virus which has infected 7 million Americans. It was the latest flagrant sign of politics superseding Trump's duties as a steward of the national well-being -- with Election Day only 29 days away and voting in many states already underway.
It came amid lingering confusion about the President's true state of health after a weekend in which the White House undertook strenuous efforts to minimize the seriousness of his case. But details about the cocktail of therapies that he is taking suggest that he is experiencing complications from the disease, even as his doctors said it was possible he could return to the White House Monday.
The showman President's motorcade photo-op followed a misleading and politicized White House performance that displayed all the failures that have made the US anti-Covid effort one of the worst in the world.
White House physician, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley, admitted on Sunday to not telling the full truth about Trump's condition the day before — including about two drops in his oxygen levels — to avoid overshadowing the "upbeat" official line on the President's health. Trump's doctors revealed that the President had suffered several alarming drops in oxygen levels. Conley again delivered a briefing that raised more questions than it answered about Trump's condition. He said that he didn't mention drops in Trump's oxygen levels Saturday because he didn't want "to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction." He acknowledged that his evasive answers "came off that we were trying to hide something" but said that "wasn't necessarily true," adding that the President is "doing really well" and is responding to treatment. The episodes prompted doctors to start treating Trump with the steroid drug dexamethasone, which has been shown to help patients with Covid-19. It is typically given to patients on supplemental oxygen or ventilation.
Conley also hinted at more unrevealed details when he refused to say what was revealed by X-rays or CT scans of Trump's lungs. "There's some expected findings, but nothing of any major clinical concern," he said.
All patients have expectations of privacy. But Trump shoulders a public trust given his position. It is not just crucial for voters to have some understanding of his condition. The health of the President is a crucial national security issue and commanders-in-chief have a higher duty to disclosure than regular citizens.
The approach taken by the President's doctors suggests to many experts that the White House has been downplaying the seriousness of his condition as he fights a disease in which a patient can quickly deteriorate during the course of the infection over a period of days. "His physicians are treating him very aggressively. And based on what we know so far, the President is ill," said Dr. Patrice Harris, a past president of the American Medical Association, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "We know that during the course of the illness, a patient can feel just fine and suddenly take a turn for the worse. So really for the President's own health and safety, this visit outside of the hospital was quite risky today."
