White House doctor says he left out details of Trump's illness to reflect president's 'upbeat attitude'

Sean Conley.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

White House physician Dr. Sean Conley and Dr. Brian Garibaldi of Johns Hopkins University provided another update Sunday on President Trump's health as he remains hospitalized at Walter Reed with the coronavirus.

Garibaldi said Trump "feels well" and was moving around Sunday morning. That's raised hopes, Garibaldi said, that "we can plan for a discharge as early as" Monday, so the president can continue his treatment at the White House, though there's no guarantee that will happen.

Conley addressed the confusion sparked by his earlier comments about Trump's health, which clashed with a more concerning description from White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Conley acknowledged that Trump did, as Meadows said, require supplemental oxygen on Friday, and said he previously refrained from providing specific details to "reflect" Trump's "upbeat attitude," which he admitted came across as if "we were trying to hide something." Conley added that he "didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction." The explanation hasn't exactly reassured some of the administration's critics, however.

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It was already known Trump was receiving the antiviral drug remdesivir, but Conley said Sunday that he has been given the steroid dexamethasone as well, which has led to more speculation about the severity of the president's infection. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.