Mike Pence and top US officials test negative after Donald Trump contracts coronavirus
- The US president disclosed early on Friday that he had Covid-19, raising concerns that those in regular contact with him may have been exposed
- Vice-president Pence will work from a separate residence, while Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Mike Pompeo, Steven Mnuchin and Alex Azar are negative
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“As has been routine for months, vice-president Pence is tested for Covid-19 every day. This morning, vice-president Pence and the Second Lady tested negative for Covid-19,” spokesman Devin O’Malley tweeted.
Among many other concerns raised by Trump’s diagnosis is the issue of whether people like Pence who come into close contact with the president, who rarely wears a mask, might also have contracted the virus.
The White House said on Friday that Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner had tested negative, while the 14-year-old son of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump does not have the virus. “Barron has tested negative and all precautions are being taken to ensure he’s kept safe and healthy,” it said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s spokeswoman said he was tested on Friday as per routine and it came back negative.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he has tested negative after protectively being screened following news of Trump’s positive test.
“Out of an abundance of caution I was tested for Covid-19 this morning and the result was negative. I will be testifying before Congress as scheduled,” Azar wrote on Twitter.
UN Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he and his wife tested negative for the coronavirus after they were examined on their plane 20 minutes before landing in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on Friday. He said it was the fourth time in two weeks he has been tested.
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Pompeo said the last time he was with Trump was on September 15, at the White House, for the signing of normalisation agreements among Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The top US diplomat says he is reconsidering upcoming travel to Florida on Saturday and Asia starting on Sunday as a precaution.
Trump and Pence will work from separate residences, a senior White House official said on Friday, and their staff members will be kept separate to protect the vice-president should he need to assume control if Trump’s condition were to worsen.
“The president is not incapacitated. He is actually working from the residence,” the official said. “What we have done out of an abundance of caution, we have separated the VP and the president … we separated the staff, in case something happens,” he added.
If Trump, who has played down risks from the coronavirus, were to fall seriously ill, he could invoke the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution, temporarily giving Pence the powers of acting president.
“We are not anywhere close to that,” the White House official stressed, noting that Pence received the same intelligence briefings as the president and would be fully capable of assuming control if needed.
The same separation protocol was put to the test when Pence press aide Katie Miller tested positive earlier this year, the official stressed.
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US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the plans for continuing government should Trump become incapacitated remain in place.
Pelosi said she had been tested, and should know the results from her own Covid-19 test on Friday morning.
“This is tragic. It’s very sad,” she said in an MSNBC television interview about Trump’s diagnosis. “Going into crowds unmasked and all the rest was sort of a brazen invitation for something like this to happen,” Pelosi said, referring to Trump’s appearances at campaign rallies.
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World leaders wish Trump and Melania speedy recovery from Covid-19
The Democratic speaker is next in the line of succession, after vice-president Mike Pence, who has tested negative for the virus. After Pelosi is Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, a Republican.
It was not immediately clear whether Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had been tested since appearing at Tuesday’s presidential debate with Trump, or whether he was taking any additional safety protocols.
Trump and Biden did not shake hands during the debate but stood without masks about 10 feet apart for the 90-minute event.
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Trump and Biden have two more debates scheduled for October 15 and October 22.
Biden said on Friday that he and his wife Jill “send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery”, adding that they would pray for the health and safety of the president and his family.
Additional reporting by Associated Press, Reuters
