WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has coronavirus, according to reports on Friday.
It was not clear when Meadows tested positive, according to Bloomberg News, but sources told the outlet that Meadows informed a group of advisers of his diagnosis after Election Day.
Meadows was present with Trump when he visited his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday. The chief of staff was seen not wearing a face mask. He was also in attendance at a White House gathering that evening and came into contact with Trump family members, according to reports.
ABC News and CNN have also confirmed Meadows has the virus. Campaign official Nick Trainor also tested positive for the virus, according to Bloomberg and ABC.
His positive test comes a month after Trump’s own bout with the virus, which saw him hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in early October. In the wake of Trump’s diagnosis, several White House aides also tested positive for the virus, including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and former counselor Kellyanne Conway. Melania and Barron Trump also were positive.
At least five aides to Vice President Mike Pence, including his chief of staff Marc Short, tested positive last month as well, according to reports.
When Meadows acknowledged late last month that the Trump administration wouldn’t be able to do much about the spread of COVID-19, he came under fire from critics who said the administration has not done enough to prevent spread.
“We’re not going to control the pandemic,” Meadows told CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding that “we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations.”
