President Trump on Monday announced he’ll be leaving Walter Reed National Medical Center at 6:30 p.m., just three days after be admitted for COVID-19.
Trump, 74, made the announcement on Twitter.
“I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!” the president wrote.
I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
Trump has been champing at the bit to leave the hospital, and on Monday morning, he went on a tear on Twitter, sending out more than a dozen posts and retweets.
Shortly before he announced when he would be discharged, Trump defended his decision to make a drive-by appearance on Sunday to greet his supporters outside the hospital.
“It is reported that the Media is upset because I got into a secure vehicle to say thank you to the many fans and supporters who were standing outside of the hospital for many hours, and even days, to pay their respect to their President,” Trump tweeted Monday afternoon. “If I didn’t do it, Media would say RUDE!!!
It is reported that the Media is upset because I got into a secure vehicle to say thank you to the many fans and supporters who were standing outside of the hospital for many hours, and even days, to pay their respect to their President. If I didn’t do it, Media would say RUDE!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
Doctors treating Trump, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, said on Sunday that the president did in fact receive supplemental oxygen on Friday. The doctors, who had dodged the question on Saturday — repeatedly saying that Trump was not currently on oxygen — said the president’s blood oxygen level dropped suddenly on Friday, raising alarm.
“Late Friday morning, when I returned to the bedside, the president had a high fever, and his oxygen saturation was transiently dipping below 94 percent,” White House physician Sean Conley told reporters at Walter Reed on Sunday.
Conley said he recommended the president take supplemental oxygen, which he did for about an hour on Friday. The doctor said Trump experienced two episodes of “transient drops” in his oxygen levels since his diagnosis Thursday evening. The second episode occurred Saturday morning, and that led to doctors treating Trump with dexamethasone, which relieves inflammation in various parts of the body.
The president had a “high fever” on Friday and again on Saturday, but his blood oxygen level currently stands at 98%, Trump’s medical team said. “The president has continued to improve,” Conley said.
While Trump’s doctors on Saturday presented a rosy picture of his condition, chief of staff Mark Meadows later told reporters, “The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”
Conley was evasive when repeatedly asked by reporters on Saturday about whether the president ever needed supplemental oxygen. “Thursday no oxygen. None at this moment. And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” Conley said.
The White House on Saturday night released photos that showed Trump working while being confined to Walter Reed Medical Center. Ben Williamson, White House senior communications adviser, tweeted out one of the photographs of Trump, writing: “The guy’s a machine. @realDonaldTrump getting work in at Walter Reed.”