Trump Tests Negative for COVID-19

Trump Tests Negative for COVID-19
President Donald Trump gives a press briefing about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) alongside members of the Coronavirus Task Force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on March 14, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Melanie Sun
3/14/2020
Updated:
3/17/2020

The White House physician has said that President Donald Trump’s test result for COVID-19 has come back negative, according to a memo released to the media.

“Last night after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed,” Dr. Sean Conley wrote in a memo.

“This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative.”

Conley said the president remains symptom-free.

“I have been in daily contact with the CDC and the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation,” he added.

Trump decided to take a test on Saturday after questions arose about his health because he had come into contact with two infected individuals at Mar-a-Lago last week.

Conley said on Friday that it was his professional opinion that the president did not need testing.

“The President’s exposure to the first individual was extremely limited (photograph, handshake), and though he spent more time in proximity to the second case, all interactions occurred before any symptom onset [in those individuals],” Conley said at the time.

Emel Akan contributed to this report.