Attention to the Unseen

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Trump didn’t disclose a positive result from a rapid test for Covid-19 on Thursday while awaiting the findings from a more thorough coronavirus screening, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Trump received a positive result on Thursday evening before making an appearance on Fox News in which he didn’t reveal those results. Instead, he confirmed earlier reports that one of his top aides had tested positive for coronavirus and mentioned the second…

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The Daily Beast reports: After teasing a “little surprise visit” via video on Twitter, President Trump left the hospital on Sunday afternoon to wave to supporters from the back seat of an SUV. “It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID,” Trump, who is still suffering from the coronavirus, said in the video. “I learned it by really going to school, this is the real school, this isn’t the ‘let’s read the book’ school, and I…

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Kristin Urquiza writes: On Tuesday night, I sat in masked silence in the front row of the debate hall in Cleveland as President Trump mocked former vice president Joe Biden for wearing a mask. Earlier in the evening, I watched as Trump’s family and Republican insiders defiantly removed their masks, in violation of the clear guidelines set by the Cleveland Clinic, while most of the other audience members remained masked. We didn’t know it then, but at that moment, Trump…

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Philip Bump writes: On Saturday evening, President Trump’s personal Twitter account was updated with a video message. Trump has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center since Friday after contracting the novel coronavirus, but the video was pointed in its intent: The president is nonetheless doing well, well enough to offer up a bit of politicking and assurances he’s confident in his recovery. In case that point was somehow lost on observers, campaign aides like Jason Miller made it…

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Olivia Nuzzi and Ben Jacobs write: The White House is at war with the virus, with itself, and with reality — though not necessarily in that order. With President Trump hospitalized for COVID-19 at Walter Reed medical center, officials spent Saturday sowing doubt about his condition instead of offering clarity and reassurance. Doctors and members of the White House staff provided conflicting information about the timeline and progression of the president’s illness, making a bad situation even worse. Asked what…

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The Washington Post reports: A little more than two days before she reported testing positive for the coronavirus, first lady Melania Trump – as well as the president’s sons, daughters and several guests – violated safety protocols at the first presidential debate by taking off their masks after being seated in a live studio audience in Cleveland. Several in the president’s entourage continued without masks after an official from the Cleveland Clinic, which co-hosted the debate, offered them masks in…

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Amy Wilentz writes: Donald Trump has always thought of himself as above the rules. He has demonstrated this conviction throughout his life: in his business, in his personal behavior, and for almost four years as president of the United States. So we know what to expect from him. But even when Trump does what’s expected—which is generally the worst thing anyone can picture him doing—his actions or inactions can still astonish those Americans who are holding on to their sanity…

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Jake Sherman writes: Let’s not mince words: Washington has been plunged into a crisis of historic proportions, frozen by a disease it is both unwilling and unable to control. Washington crises typically conform to a predictable rhythm: They simmer, boil and come to their expected conclusion. The government shuts down for a few days, but it always reopens. A national security emergency demands an urgent response — and gets one. But this time, America’s capital itself is crippled, leaving the…

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Politico reports: Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis has stunned MAGA world, but it hasn’t changed how it reacts to bad news: blame others, accuse the left of craven behavior and cling tighter to the president. As updates around Trump’s health fluctuated throughout the day — before the medical staff decided to move Trump to Walter Reed hospital Friday night — Trump’s hardcore base seemed unable to deviate from its traditional impulses. The president’s backers furiously descended upon commentators who pointed out…

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NBC News reports: At least 11 positive coronavirus tests can be traced to organizers of this week’s presidential debate in Cleveland, city officials said Friday. The city’s announcement came after President Donald Trump, who debated Democratic rival Joe Biden on Tuesday in Cleveland, revealed that he and his wife have both tested positive for Covid-19 and are in isolation. Trump was transported to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday. “The City of Cleveland is aware of positive cases…

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CNN reports: A widening coronavirus outbreak at the White House has left members of the media scrambling to find out if they, too, are infected. Three journalists who work at the White House tested positive on Friday, according to a series of memos from the White House Correspondents Association. “Given these positive cases, the president’s diagnosis and positive cases among other members of the White House staff, a number of White House journalists are self-isolating pending diagnostic testing,” the correspondents…

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Olivia Nuzzi writes: “At the best of times, Trumpworld operates with all the strategic direction of a chicken with its head cut off,” a senior Republican official told me. “Right now, they’re operating like a chicken with its head cut off, lit on fire, and thrown off a cliff.” The world has heard little from Donald Trump since he announced, just before 1 a.m. on Friday, that he has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Usually it’s the tweets that cause concern,…

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