Watch Live: President Trump Leaves Walter Reed

Update (1845ET): As Trump exited Walter Reed toward his motorcade, he flashed a thumbs up to the cameras.

BREAKING: Pres. Trump gives a thumbs up as he leaves Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was admitted Friday after testing positive for COVID-19.

The president did not answer a shouted question about others in his orbit who have tested positive. https://t.co/DWSBofwQdM pic.twitter.com/gZfv8b5BkH

— ABC News (@ABC) October 5, 2020

The flight to the White House, which we discussed below, is only a ten-minute journey, meaning he will be landing at the White House just before sunset.

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Update (1840ET): President Trump is making his grand exit from Walter Reed.

Watch Live:

As Trump headed toward the presidential chopper, journalists noted that he was surrounded mostly by aides, not medical personnel.

During the hour or so before he was discharged, Trump sent out a handful of Tweets quoting a New York Post article slamming Democrats over their reaction to Trump’s illness, before pledging that he would be back on the campaign trail “soon”.

“You see it in enthusiasm for the President outside Walter Reed Hospital. You see it in Registrations, from Florida to Pennsylvania & West Virginia, where Republicans are outstripping Democrats by 2 to 1. If the President bounces back onto the campaign trail, he will be an….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020

….invincible hero, who not only survived every dirty trick the Democrats threw at him, but the Chinese virus as well. He will show America we no longer have to be afraid.” [email protected] Thank you Miranda. Was over until the Plague came in from China. Will win anyway!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020

Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!! The Fake News only shows the Fake Polls.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020

As Marine One – the president’s chopper – heads back toward the White House from Walter Reed, it will land on the south lawn before Trump heads inside.

Trump is expected to quarantine in the residence, though that could change in the coming days.

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Update (1730ET): President Trump plans to walk out the front door of Walter Reed when he leaves in about an hour, according to Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs.

NEWS: Trump wants to make a dramatic exit from Walter Reed. He plans to walk out the golden front doors on camera, sources tell @SalehaMohsin and me. He’s shooting a video inside the hospital first, and then will walk to car and then to Marine One. No plan to speak to press. pic.twitter.com/DqLY6MvyXZ

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 5, 2020

Meanwhile, Trump is tweeting about today’s market gains, perhaps to show that he really is back.

STOCK MARKET UP BIG, 466 Points! 28,149. Great News for America. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020

Circling back to the White House, VP Pence said he spoke to Trump and he sounded better, before the White House confirmed that Trump will be staying in the residence when he returns (with First Lady Melania Trump).

After the NYT reported earlier that 2 housekeepers from the White House had been sickened, the CDC confirmed that it was detailing a squad of “disease detectives” to assist in the contact tracing efforts for the White House outbreak.

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Update (1540ET): Alex Berenson, the former NYT reporter who has been one of the most vocal critics of masks, noted that Trump’s comment about not allowing fear to “dominate your life” was “one of the smartest things he’s ever said.”

Maybe the smartest comment @realdonaldtrump has ever made. For too long we have let this virus – and the media’s hysteria around it – dominate us. We need to take back our lives, our schools, and our whole world. https://t.co/gg02p3wgiM

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) October 5, 2020

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Update (1515ET): Dr. Conley has confirmed that although President Trump isn’t out of the woods yet, he has recovered enough to warrant his safe return back to the West Wing, as the president announced via tweet roughly 30 minutes ago.

Doctors said that Trump has maintained a full work schedule at Walter Reed. He will receive his fourth dose of remdesivir Monday evening, before taking the fifth and final dose on Tusday.

When pressed by a reporter about the safety risks to the Secret Service agents during Trump’s ride outside Walter Reed Sunday evening, Dr. Conley said that the agents wore PPE, as they have in recent days, and that the trip took place over a “very short period of time”.

Circling back to Trump’s mental acuity, reporters asked whether there had been any fogginess as a result of the medication, or the virus, Dr. Conley assured reporters that “he’s back” and that Trump has been a “great” patient.

Looking ahead, Dr. Conley said advanced diagnostic techniques will be used to detect when the last traces of ‘live’ virus have left the president. Dr. Conley said that people are most at risk of shedding the live virus during the first 5 days of infection, but usually by ten days the last traces have left.

Headlines are rolling in:

• TRUMP MEDICAL TEAM SAYS TRUMP HAS MET OR EXCEEDED ALL DISCHARGE CRITERIA
• TRUMP MAY NOT BE ENTIRELY OUT OF THE WOODS YET, DOCTOR SAYS
• TRUMP WILL GET ANOTHER DOSE OF REMDESIVIR BEFORE GOING HOME
• TRUMP’S CLINICAL STATUS SUPPORTS HIS GOING HOME, DOCTOR SAYS
• TRUMP CONTINUES TAKING STEROID DEXAMETHASONE, DOCTORS SAY
• TRUMP MEDICAL TEAM SAYS THERE IS NOTHING THAT IS BEING DONE AT WALTER REED THAT CAN’T BE DONE AT HOME FOR TRUMP
• TRUMP MEDICAL TEAM SAYS WE REMAIN CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC AND ON GUARD
• TRUMP MEDICAL TEAM SAYS TRUMP HAS NO NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS
• TRUMP MEDICAL TEAM SAYS TRUMP RECEIVED SUPPLEMENTAL OXYGEN TWICE

Fortunately, once he returns to the White House, Trump will have a staff of more than 2 dozen nurses, doctors and APRNs to provide “world class medical care 24/7”. Aksed about when Trump last tested negative, Dr. Conely demurred, and also said he didn’t have Trump’s viral load data and earlier blamed HiPPA privacy laws for why he couldn’t go into “too much depth”.

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Update (1455ET): Trump’s doctors, led by Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, are expected to deliver a briefing on Trump’s condition at 1500ET.

Watch live below:

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Less than 30 minutes before his medical team is supposed to update the public on the president’s condition, President Trump has just tweeted that he will be leaving Walter Reed at 1830ET.

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

Just minutes earlier, Trump rebutted accusations from the mainstream press that he put secret service members lives ‘at risk’ by greeting his supporters in a presidential motorcade early Sunday evening.

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

But if Trump leaves Walter Reed tonight and doesn’t return, his urging for Americans “not to fear COVID-19” will be remembered, as he personally has demonstrated that the virus is not a “death sentence”, even for older Americans.

On CNBC, Tyler Mathisen suggested that one of the side effects of dexamethasone is a feeling of euphoria, meaning that Trump might be feeling better than his condition actually reflects. So, we now wait for Trump’s doctors to speak, to see whether they will parrot the narrative.

Trump tweeted as the NYT was publishing a report claiming that at least two White House housekeepers have tested positive.