Medics say Donald Trump on the mend, could leave hospital on Tuesday

Donald Trump could be released from hospital as early as Tuesday (AEDT) if his condition continues to improve.

Donald Trump could be released from hospital as early as Tuesday (AEDT) if his condition continues to improve, but doctors also said the US President had suffered two sudden drops in oxygen over the weekend as he battled COVID-19.

Despite his illness, Mr Trump made a surprise, theatrical drive-past of his supporters outside his hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Without warning, the presidential motorcade appeared and Trump supporters cheered wildly when they realised it was the President in a mask who was waving to them.

Shortly beforehand, Mr Trump recorded a short video inside the hospital saying he was going to “pay a little surprise to some of the great patriots we have out on the street and they’ve been out there for a long time, they’ve got Trump flags and they love our country”.

The President also said: “It’s been a very interesting journey, I learned a lot about COVID. I learned it by really going to school, to the real school, this isn’t the ‘let’s read a book school’, and I get it, I understand it and it’s a very interesting thing … we love the USA and we love what’s happening.”

Doctors confirmed for the first time that Mr Trump had experienced more serious symptoms in the first 48 hours after his diagnosis on Friday than they had previously admitted. Sean Conley revealed the President received supplementary oxygen at the White House on Saturday before he was taken to hospital.

They said that while in hospital on Sunday he had experienced renewed fever and another sudden fall in oxygen, but he “has continued to improve” since then.

A young supporter makes her feelings clear outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland, on Monday. Picture: AFP

Dr Conley was asked to explain the mixed messaging about the President’s health on Sunday and admitted he was trying to present a more rosy picture to be “upbeat” about the situation.

“I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude of the team, that the President, that his course of illness has had. Didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction,” he said. “And in doing so, came off like we’re trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true. The fact of the matter is that he’s doing really well.”

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows had revealed that the President’s initial vital signs after diagnosis had been “very concerning” and “we’re still not on a clear path to full recovery”.

Another member of the president’s medical team, Brian Garibaldi, said on Monday Mr Trump had completed his second dose of Remdesivir and had begun Dexamethasone therapy. “If he continues to look and feel as well as he does today, our hope is that we can plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow to the White House, where he can continue his treatment course,” Dr Garibaldi said.

The President’s illness, which will keep him off the campaign trail for at least two weeks, has forced the Trump campaign to reassess how it keeps rolling without him. “We think it’s important that our campaign vigorously proceed,” senior Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes said. “The MAGA movement is bigger than just President Trump.”

Vice-President Mike Pence and Trump family members will continue to campaign around the country on behalf of the President.

Donald Trump thanks his supporters outside the Walter Reed Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland, on Monday. Picture: AFP

The Trump campaign has also been hit by a series of coronavirus infections among key advisers including Hope Hicks, Kellyanne Conway, campaign manager Bill Stepien and Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

It comes at a bad time for the campaign as new polls show Democrat nominee Joe Biden increasing his lead in the polls in the wake of the raucous first presidential debate last week.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, taken after the debate, but before Mr Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, found Mr Biden leading by 14 percentage points. This compares with an eight-point lead last month and is the largest lead so far in the campaign.

The confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Amy Barrett has also been thrown into doubt after three Republican senators tested positive for the coronavirus. Two of them, Mike Lee and Thom Tillis, are on the Senate judiciary committee that is due to begin confirmation hearings for Judge Barrett on October 12.

A Democrat member of that committee, Amy Klobuchar, said the outbreak among senators meant that the confirmation hearings should be delayed. “It’s very possible we’re going to have more senators, more staff” test positive in the days ahead, she said, given Republicans often “lunch together where they don’t have masks”.

“So I don’t know why you would ram through this Supreme Court hearing, put people in danger. I just think it’s wrong. We are suggesting that we wait.”

Democrats are opposed to confirming Judge Barrett, a conservative, before the November 3 election, saying the winner of the poll should choose the next ­Supreme Court judge.

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia