Looking hale and hearty, Donald Trump joined Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel for an on-camera interview — his first since being diagnosed with COVID-19. He said he was “medication-free” as of Friday and feeling “really, really strong.”
Trump downplayed his condition after being admitted to Walter Reed hospital. He said he felt he was in “not bad shape” and could have left the hospital after the first day.
The president also said he underwent CT scans on his lungs upon arrival at Walter Reed, but did not experience difficulty breathing.
“They wanted to keep me for observation,” Trump said. “You know, they wanted to be sure it was good. But … I was there for, I guess, three-and-a-half days. They wanted to keep me. I wanted to leave after the first day. I really felt I was in not bad shape. After the first day, I think I would have been in much worse shape had I not taken this [Regeneron] medication.”
And he commented on the criticism he received from hysterics about leaving his hospital bed and traveling in a closed car, wearing a mask, to acknowledge those who came out to wish him well.
“I could hear them from the hospital,” Trump recalled. “I was way up high. And, you know, [I’m in] this very fortified military hospital that’s, you know, built to the highest standard. And yet through these very powerful windows, I could hear people screaming and shouting and with love, with real love.
“And after two days, I said, ‘You know, I want to go out and say hello to the people.’ And I went to Secret Service. And these are the people that are with me all the time. And they said, ‘We have no problem, sir.’ I said, ‘I just want to take a drive by them and just wave.’ And you saw what happened.
“It was a great display of love out there,” Trump said of the drive. “I don’t think there was one negative person, and there was many, many, many people.”
His doctor, Sean Conley, announced in a memorandum that Trump could resume his public duties on Saturday.
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