National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday said there are “plans for everything” but a delegation of powers is not necessary as President Trump fights the coronavirus from the hospital.
The president remains in command of the country so a transfer is “not something that’s on the table at this point,” Mr. O’Brien told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “He’s doing very well.”
He said that the government is “steady at the tiller” and that he planned to brief the president on security matters later Sunday.
Mr. O’Brien contracted the virus over the summer and said “Days 7 and 8 are the critical days.”
It’s unclear when Mr. Trump contracted the virus, though his diagnosis was confirmed late Thursday and revealed to the public close to 1 a.m. Friday.
Many are eyeing interactions during a White House Rose Garden event on Sept. 26 in which Mr. Trump introduced his pick for the Supreme Court vacancy, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Mike Lee of Utah tested positive after attending the event, as did former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Many attendees did not wear masks at the ceremony. The event occurred three days before the presidential debate in Cleveland, during which Mr. Trump’s family refused the masks provided, and five days before press accounts revealed that Hope Hicks, a presidential aide, had tested positive at midweek after traveling with the president to Minnesota.
The White House knew about Ms. Hicks’ diagnosis but cleared Mr. Trump to meet with donors at Bedminster, New Jersey, saying the interactions were outside and physically distant.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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