Ms. Hicks, a longtime aide who is among the president’s closest advisers, was extra involved, colleagues mentioned. She took extra precautions than
Ms. Hicks, a longtime aide who is among the president’s closest advisers, was extra involved, colleagues mentioned. She took extra precautions than most others and typically wore a masks in conferences.
Colleagues mentioned that newcomers to Mr. Trump’s orbit, like Kayleigh McEnany, the White Home press secretary, by no means wore a masks in his presence, in what was interpreted by different employees members as an try and please the brand new boss.
Because the months progressed, there have been so few reported virus circumstances within the White Home — a valet to the president, a high aide to the vp and Robert C. O’Brien, the nationwide safety adviser, all examined optimistic — that aides to the president grew even much less involved.
By June, the month earlier than Mr. O’Brien examined optimistic, the White Home had already stopped conducting temperature checks for individuals getting into the complicated. Solely these aides who had been interacting instantly with the president acquired each day checks. Masks remained uncommon sightings.
The angle was widespread within the administration. On the Justice Division in Might, Legal professional Normal William P. Barr instructed a New York Instances Journal reporter who arrived in a masks for an interview that “I’m not going to contaminate you,’’ after which sat by as an aide advised, twice, that the reporter take the masks off. The reporter did.
Even on Friday, solely hours after the president had introduced at 1 a.m. on Twitter that he and the primary woman had examined optimistic, the White Home was making an attempt to mission that it was enterprise as standard. “We had an important jobs report this morning,” Mr. Meadows instructed reporters on the White Home. “Sadly, that’s not what everyone is targeted on this morning.”
Nonetheless, they made each effort to hold on with a nothing-to-see-here-folks mentality.
Mr. Meadows, who had been in shut contact with the president in current days, arrived at work with no masks, and continued to assert {that a} masks was not crucial as a result of he had examined destructive. (Mr. Meadows wore a masks when he accompanied Mr. Trump, additionally in a masks, to Walter Reed Nationwide Army Medical Middle on Friday night.)