Trump’s advisor tests positive for COVID-19

Fears of COVID-19 are spreading within the White House as U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security advisor Robert O’Brien has tested positive for the virus. At the helm of U.S.-China conflicts and other foreign and national security policies, O’Brien is in contact with more people than any other advisors.

Asked about having contact with O’Brien at the White House on Monday, President Trump said he had not met him recently and would call him. “There is no risk of exposure to the president or the vice-president,” read the White House statement released on the same day. “The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted." It also said, “"He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site.” The Washington Post raised a possibility where O’Brien got the virus from his daughter, who is a university student, at a family event last week.

O’Brien is one of the aides who emphasized the importance of stopping the spread of COVID-19. He ordered to divide the National Security Council staff in half and run each half from different offices in March.


lightee@donga.com