Donald Trump was reportedly much more ill with Covid-19 in October than the White House publicly admitted at the time, with some officials concerned that he would need to put on a respirator.
Trump experienced “extremely depressed blood oxygen levels” and a lung problem commonly associated with pneumonia caused by Covid-19, according to a New York Times report citing four people familiar with the former president’s condition.
Trump was admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for several days in early October after he tested positive for the virus, less than a month before the presidential election. At the time, a White House memo described the 74-year-old as “tired, but in a good mood.”
Dr. Sean Conley, the personal physician in charge of leading the President of the United States back to health through his meeting with Covid-19, was widely criticized for his vague statements about Trump’s condition the day after he was admitted to the hospital, including when answering questions about oxygen levels. Conley made an optimistic assessment, saying that Trump was “doing very well” and that “there was no cause for concern”.
However, the Times reports that officials found Trump’s prognosis so worrying before he was taken to the hospital that they were concerned that he had to put on a respirator. Two people familiar with Trump’s condition told the newspaper that the president had lung infiltrations, which could be a sign of serious illness in patients with Covid-19 who also have other symptoms.
Trump’s blood oxygen levels were also a source of alarm when they fell in the 1980s – much lower than the lows of the 1990s, which are considered a sign of a serious case.
Trump was scolded by doctors for staging a surprise visit to supporters outside the military medical center two days after he was admitted for treatment. At least two secret service agents were seen in the vehicle that accompanied Trump during the short trip.
At the time, James Phillips, assistant physician to Walter Reed, called the feat “insanity”.
Trump, who has repeatedly undermined and downplayed the severity of the pandemic and its growing death toll, has sometimes suggested that his own recovery was proof that the virus was not as much of a threat as public health officials made it out to be.
Upon returning to the White House after his illness, Trump said to supporters: “You are going to beat him [coronavirus] … As your leader, I had to do this. I knew there was danger, but I had to do it. I stayed ahead and led. “
Not long after Trump’s recovery, the United States entered its most deadly stage of the pandemic. More than 27 million people have been infected and 474,000 have died in the United States, the highest number of deaths in any country in the world by far.