By Jennifer A Dlouhy, Ari Natter and Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou
Bloomberg News
At a White House ceremony to honor veterans, President Donald Trump told the assembled guests, “I’m not supposed to shake his hand” — and then did just that with the father of a fallen Marine.
The exchange seemed harmless enough at the time, despite violating social-distancing guidelines. But it and the many other interactions people had with the president since have taken on a more worrisome hue in the wake of the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis four days later.
All told, hundreds of people — some masked, many not — came into contact with Trump in the week leading up to his positive COVID test, according to interviews with witnesses and a review of White House schedules, news accounts and photographs.
Most famously, the Rose Garden event to announce Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court nominee attracted 150 people — at least nine of whom have since tested positive for the illness. Between it and Friday, when Trump was helicoptered to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he headlined a string of risky events, many indoors, that have sent people scrambling to get tested.
The list reflects a remarkably wide range of people who encountered the president at receptions, fundraisers and other events: corporate CEOs, senators, governors, big-money donors, state lawmakers, four-star generals, and parents grieving the loss of their children to combat.
Now, Trump’s diagnosis, and the specter of the president hosting several potential super-spreader events in states and cities across the country has rocked his presidency and imperiled his already struggling re-election campaign.
Monday, Sept. 28
Trump stepped back to assess the electric truck parked in front of the White House on Monday, marveling at the placement of motors in each wheel. “This is the only one that does this in the world,” Trump said.
A maskless Steve Burns, the chief executive officer of Lordstown Motors, proudly held the door open for the maskless president to inspect the interior, which brought the two within a few feet of each other. Burns has since been self-isolating in preparation for a planned COVID test on Monday — a timing suggested by his physician. “My meeting with him was outside, and we were only close for about 30 seconds,” Burns said of his encounter with the president.
Just a few hours later, Trump would be in the Rose Garden with top government health officials highlighting a plan to ship 150 million rapid coronavirus tests to local authorities. Abbott Laboratories Chief Executive Robert Ford was there, and, according to a spokeswoman, tested negative last week.
Most attendees at the virus event wore masks and chairs were separated by a few feet. Reeves has since tweeted that a test he took after the event came back negative.
Tuesday: The debate
As Air Force One lifted off from Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday, it held more than 60 people —including dozens of Trump family members, top aides and other VIPs eager to see the president joust with Democrat Joe Biden in their first debate.
Among the passengers on board was Hope Hicks, the senior counselor to Trump who would start experiencing coronavirus symptoms the next day and test positive a day after that, as well as Bill Stepien, the Trump campaign manager who learned about his positive result on Friday. Nick Luna, who runs Oval Office operations for the White House, was also aboard and tested positive on Saturday.
Trump confidant Jim Jordan, a Republican representative from Ohio, scored a seat on the Boeing 747, along with Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, criminal reform advocate Alice Johnson and several top Trump aides, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and his deputy, Chris Liddell, according to passenger manifests obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
Once in Ohio, they became part of an audience of about 70 people inside the debate hall at Case Western Reserve University, most of whom first underwent testing for COVID-19, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Just as the debate began, a Cleveland Clinic doctor walked up to a number of unmasked audience members on Trump’s side of the room, asking them to don face coverings. They refused.
Biden, Blackburn, Jordan and Meadows have tested negative since the trip.
Wednesday rally
Thousands of people cheered Trump during a campaign rally inside an airport hangar in Duluth, Minnesota, chanting “USA! USA! USA!” as he walked on stage and laughing as the president remarked how cold and windy it was.
Trump spoke for roughly 45 minutes — much shorter than his usual rally performances — firing up the raucous crowd with attacks on Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar and his proclamations of having won the prior night’s presidential debate.
Outside the rally, Trump greeted Minnesota state Republican officials, including Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt. According to spokespeople, Daudt tested negative on Sunday after self-isolating, and Gazelka is still awaiting test results.
Hours earlier, the president attended a fundraiser at the Shorewood, Minnesota home of Marty Davis, the CEO of Cambria Corp., a maker of quartz countertops. Guests paid some $200,000 per couple to attend, according to local press reports.
The Trump campaign hasn’t disclosed the names of attendees, though a photo on social media obtained by the Pioneer Press newspaper shows grinning guests huddled close together, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
Noem’s office has said the governor is tested regularly and hasn’t been in recent close contact with anyone who is known to have COVID, including Trump.
Thursday: Fundraiser in Bedminster, N.J.
Hours before Trump announced he had contracted COVID, some 60 guests sipped cocktails and noshed on bites of steak and lamb during a fundraiser inside the president’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Some paid $2,800 to attend and others ponied up as much as $250,000, with the size of the contribution dictating how close they would get to Trump during a 150-person roundtable.
VIP guests were subjected to rapid-result COVID tests and instructed to stand six feet away from the president but none wore masks, according to one attendee, who asked for anonymity to speak frankly about the private event. Staffers from the Republican Party and the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster wore masks, including the servers.
Attendees included Brandon Dawson, founder and chief executive of hearing care company Audigy Group, and his wife, Natalie Workman, who are both seen sitting directly across from Trump in a photo on Instagram.
Hours later, the president posted on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID.
Now, New Jersey and Somerset County health officials have begun interviewing staff of the club and reaching out to the 206 individuals who attended for contact tracing purposes.
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