Trump COVID-19 timeline: Activities before diagnosis

Oct. 2, 2020 Updated 12:13 PM PT

WASHINGTON — With just a month to go until the election, President Trump had a busy schedule during the week the coronavirus hit home with him. Trump tweeted early Friday that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus.

In recent days, Trump has visited Harrisburg, PA, Cleveland, OH, Minneapolis and Duluth, MN, and Bedminster, NJ.

Here’s a timeline of his travel over the past week.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump

Saturday

Trump announces the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Two people who attended the Rose Garden ceremony — Utah Sen. Mike Lee and University of Notre Dame president John Jenkins — announce on Friday they have tested positive for the virus.

Trump holds a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., attended by thousands of supporters, many not wearing masks.

Sunday

Trump visits his golf course in Sterling, Va., and holds a late afternoon news conference in the White House briefing room.

The president and his wife hold an early evening reception for Gold Star Families on the White House State floor.

Monday

Lordstown Motors Chief Executive Steve Burns shows President Trump the Endurance all-electric pickup truck

Trump surveys a truck produced by Lordstown Motors on the White House South Lawn at an event attended by two members of Congress and three representatives from the Lordstown, Ohio, manufacturer.

President Trump arrives with Vice President Mike Pence in the Rose Garden

Trump holds a Rose Garden event to announce an administration effort to distribute millions of coronavirus test kits to states. The event is attended by administration officials including Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress and state officials.

Tuesday

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on stage after the first presidential debate

Trump travels to Cleveland for a 90-minute presidential debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden. The men are both tested before the debate and stand behind lecterns positioned a good distance from one another. They do not wear masks during the faceoff.
White House aide Hope Hicks is part of a large entourage that travels to Ohio with Trump aboard Air Force One for the debate, including members of the Trump family. Trump’s adult children and senior staff do not wear masks during the debate, violating host rules.

Wednesday

Marine One lifts off from the White House as President Trump

Trump travels to Minnesota for a fundraiser at a private home in suburban Minneapolis and an outdoor rally in Duluth.

Trump aide Hope Hicks walks from Marine One

Hicks is among the White House aides who accompany Trump on the trip. She feels unwell on the return trip and isolates herself aboard Air Force One.

Thursday

Hicks tests positive for the coronavirus.
Trump flies to his Bedminster resort in New Jersey for a private fundraiser. Several aides who were in proximity to Hicks scrap plans to accompany Trump.
Trump reveals in an evening interview on Fox News that he and the first lady are being tested for the coronavirus.

Here's what to know about the president testing positive for the coronavirus

UPDATED Oct. 7, 2020 | 6:14 AM

What's the latest?

The president returned to the White House on Monday evening, three days after he was taken by helicopter to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He said on Twitter on Monday that he was looking forward to the next debate, set for Oct. 15.

Who else close to Trump has tested positive?

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced Monday that she’s tested positive. We also know the first lady, Hope Hicks, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), former White House official and top advisor Kellyanne Conway, campaign manager Bill Stepien, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Trump’s assistant Nicholas Luna, senior advisor Stephen Miller and some White House reporters have all tested positive.

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife tested negative, as did the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, social media director Dan Scavino and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Joe Biden, who shared the debate stage with Trump on Sept. 29, tested negative again on Sunday.

But negative tests today don’t necessarily rule out having the virus — according to the CDC, the first symptoms can appear in as few as two days but can take up to two weeks. An incubation period of four or five days is more typical.

How did the news break?

After close aide Hope Hicks tested positive, the president tweeted early Friday that he and First Lady Melania Trump also had tested positive, and his doctor released a statement shortly afterward.

Friday

Trump tweets shortly before 1 a.m. that he and the first lady have tested positive for the virus and “will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately.”

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Dr. Sean Conley, physician to the president, releases a statement that the president and first lady “are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.”