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- The White House has repeatedly refused to disclose when President Donald Trump last tested negative for COVID-19.
- The last time Trump or anyone at the White House said the president tested negative on the record was on May 21.
- It’s unclear how frequently Trump has been tested since, and he has repeatedly violated coronavirus restrictions by holding public events with large crowds.
- When asked when Trump was last tested and if the White House could specify any results between May 21 and Trump’s positive one on Oct. 2, a White House spokesman said only that “the president is tested regularly.”
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Despite the seismic implications of the president of the United States contracting a deadly and highly infectious disease with no cure, the White House is still providing very little basic information about Donald Trump’s coronavirus status.
Aside from his positive test announcement last Friday — which led to him being hospitalized with COVID-19 for three nights — the last time Trump was on the record about taking a test was back in May, when he said, “I tested positively toward negative.”
Between Trump’s “positively toward negative” disclosure on May 21 and the tweet confirming he had tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 2, the White House would not point Insider toward any specific instances when Trump even took a test.
At one point back in July, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed Trump was tested “multiple times a day” before he contradicted her later in the day and said he couldn’t recall taking more than one in 24 hours.
McEnany, along with other White House officials such as spokeswoman Alyssa Farah, have declined to specify when Trump takes coronavirus tests or the last time he tested negative.
"I can't reveal that at this time. Doctors would like to keep it private," Farah said on Thursday.
The president attended 113 public events between his last known negative test and the night before he disclosed he had COVID-19, according to a database of his travel and events calendar from Factba.se, a site with a variety of Trump-related databases.
Insider asked the White House repeatedly on Thursday how often the president is tested, when his last test was, and if they have disclosed any tests taken since May 21.
"The president is tested regularly," a White House spokesman said in an email.
When asked how frequently "regularly" means, they did not respond.
Lots of events, few precautions from Trump
Other than the rare occasion when he wears a mask in public, like when he did so for the first time in July, the president has mostly flaunted basic public health precautions. He's also rarely enforced social-distancing rules and mask-wearing at his rallies and other public events.
Trump's events have varied in size and density, but there have been a few noteworthy examples that posed more risk than others:
- June 20: Trump returned to in-person campaign rallies after a months-long pause due to the pandemic, starting in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Two aides who attended later tested positive, as well as Republican ally Hermain Cain, who died from the disease a month later, though it's unclear if he contracted the virus at the event.
- July 4: Trump held an Independence Day celebration with a speech, military flyover and fireworks in Washington.
- August 27: The final night of the Republican National Convention saw a crowd of around 1,500 packed together and maskless on White House South Lawn for Trump's nomination acceptance speech.
—Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 28, 2020
- September 8: Trump, at a North Carolina rally, mocked former Vice President Joe Biden for the social distancing measures taken at his events.
- September 14: Trump held his first indoor rally in Nevada, against the warnings of Gov. Steve Sisolak and local public health officials.
- September 26: Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett at the White House in an event that has now been considered a superspreader for the virus, with more than 10 people testing positive afterward.