Trump Tweets From Hospital Bed That He's 'Feeling Well'; Source Says Next 48 Hours 'Critical'

Coronavirus-hit President Donald Trump is “doing very well,” his doctors said on Saturday — although an insider with knowledge of his health voiced concern over his condition. In the first official update on the president’s condition since he was admitted on Friday to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, medics were upbeat about his progress.

“At this time, the team and I are extremely happy with the progress the president has made,” White House physician Sean Conley said, adding the president had been “fever-free for over 24 hours.”

“We have monitored his cardiac function, his kidney function, liver function. All of those are normal,” Sean Dooley, another member of Trump’s medical team, added.

Trump tweeted later, thanking medical staff at the Walter Reed Medical Center.

But a source familiar with the president’s health painted a less rosy account.

“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,” the source said.

Conley sidestepped journalists’ questions about whether Trump had received oxygen treatment at any point before revealing that the president was not on oxygen on Thursday or at any point since he arrived at Walter Reed. He said Trump was “just 72 hours into the diagnosis now” — implying that he was known to be sick a day before his test result was announced.

But the White House later clarified that Conley meant to say Saturday was the third day since the president’s positive test result late Thursday.

Soon after Trump arrived at Walter Reed, Conley said in a memo that the president was starting a course of therapeutic drug remdesivir and had received an eight-gram dose of an experimental polyclonal antibody cocktail. Conley would not put a “hard date” on Trump’s discharge from the hospital or disclose the president’s temperature.

Trump, who showed “mild symptoms” of COVID-19, was flown to Walter Reed Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, on Friday. Trump walked from his residence to take Marine One at the South Lawns of the White House to travel to Walter Reed hospital.

Trump, 74, and his wife First Lady Melania Trump, 50, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. “Going well, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!! Trump tweeted on Saturday morning.

While the president was taken to the military hospital, the first lady stayed back at the White House. Conley earlier said the president was “fatigued but in good spirits”.