President Trump is “up and around” and could be discharged by Monday if his bout with coronavirus improves under a mix of drug therapies, his doctors said Sunday in a closely watched update that signaled good news but raised new doubts about the narrative emanating from the president’s medical team.
Dr. Sean P. Conley said he advised the president to take supplemental oxygen on Friday, something he didn’t disclose during an earlier weekend briefing because he wanted to reflect the “upbeat attitude” of the team and “in doing so, came off like we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true.”
“The fact of the matter is, he’s doing very well,” Dr. Conely said at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. “If everything continues to go well, we’re going to start a discharge plan back to the White House.”
Dr. Conley said Mr. Trump’s oxygen saturation dropped twice during his illness, before returning to normal, and that he’s being given a third drug therapy, a steroid known as dexamethasone.
He also continues to receive a five-day course of remdesivir, an antiviral drug. The president previously received an “antibody cocktail” from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Conley said Mr. Trump’s oxygen saturation dropped on Friday and Saturday. Mr. Trump got supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday — the doctor had evaded questions about that Saturday — but couldn’t say whether the president received another hit Saturday.
“If he did, it was very limited,” Dr. Conley said.
The president’s oxygen level is back up to 98%, the physician said Sunday.
Dr. Conley said he didn’t think his portrait of the president’s health on Saturday was in conflict with a more dire portrait given by Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, saying they were both concerned about the president’s outward condition on Friday but things had improved.
It’s unclear when or where Mr. Trump contracted the virus, though his diagnosis was confirmed late Thursday and revealed to the public close to 1 a.m. Friday.
Many are eyeing interactions during a White House Rose Garden event on Sept. 26 in which Mr. Trump introduced his pick for the Supreme Court vacancy, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Mike Lee of Utah tested positive after attending the event, as did former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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