Walter Reed Medical Center

December 4, 2021

Donald Trump had McDonald’s delivered to the hospital while he was being treated for COVID-19, reports say

Trump McDonald's — Former President Donald Trump’s love of fast food has been well-documented.
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Donald Trump reportedly had McDonald’s brought to the hospital while he had COVID-19 in October 2020.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said she read the detail in Mark Meadows’ upcoming book.
The former president’s love of fast food has been well-documented.

Former President Donald Trump had McDonald’s brought to Walter Reed hospital while he was treated for COVID-19 in October 2020, reports say.

The details have reportedly been included in an upcoming book by Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff, seen by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.

—Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 4, 2021

“Trump had McDonald’s brought to Walter Reed after the Regeneron started kicking in, per Meadows,” Haberman wrote on Twitter.

While infected with COVID-19, the former president took the experimental antibody drug Regeneron to treat his symptoms.

“They had to eat with face shields on at the doctor’s orders, which didn’t thrill any of them,” she added.

The former president’s love of fast food has been well-documented.

Trump’s standard order at McDonald’s consisted of two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish, and chocolate malt, according to a book by his former campaign aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.

The order totals nearly 2,500 calories or about one day’s worth of food for a man his age.

He is also reportedly a fan of the McDonald’s breakfast, which he would eat during his 2016 presidential campaign, and was known to serve fast food at the White House on occasion.

The former president reportedly loves fast food in part because of a “longtime fear” of being poisoned, Michael Wolff wrote in his book “Fire and Fury.”

He also reportedly believes that McDonald’s is cleaner than many other restaurants.

The latest detail from Meadows’ book comes after a bombshell revelation about the former president’s COVID diagnosis.

The Guardian reported that Meadows’ book reveals that Trump tested positive, then negative, for COVID-19 three days before his first presidential debate against then-candidate Joe Biden.

Trump responded with a statement claiming, “The story of me having COVID prior to, or during, the first debate is Fake News.”

Meadows later told Newsmax that he agreed with Trump: “The president’s right. It’s fake news.”

The former chief of staff has long been a loyal supporter of former President Trump.

In October, Trump said Meadows’ book would be an “incredible Christmas present” for those who “want to learn about politics, truth, our great administration.”

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June 27, 2021

Two aides believed Trump was ‘gravely ill’ when he had COVID and might not have made it out of medical facility: book excerpt

trump-walter-reed — President Trump is shown working at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Oct. 3, 2020.
Joyce N. Boghosian/The White House via AP

The White House was in scrambles after former President Donald Trump’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
He was hospitalized at the Walter Reed Medical Center and was sicker than he wanted the public to know.
An excerpt from a forthcoming book by two Washington Post reporters says at least two aides believed he would not make it out of there.
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Two aides feared that former President Donald Trump would not make it out of Walter Reed Medical Center when he was hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a new book by two reporters from the Washington Post.

An excerpt of the book, “Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,” illustrates the White House’s chaotic response to Trump’s October 2020 COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization at Walter Reed. The book, written by Yasmeen Abultaeb and Damian Paletta, is due for release on June 29.

Trump announced over Twitter in October that he and then first lady Melania had contracted COVID-19. It was just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, a contentious battle between him and Joe Biden, who came out the victor.

At the same time, the nation was dealing with a pandemic. And Trump for months at this point had flouted or mocked COVID-19 safety restrictions like mask-wearing. He also held giant rallies with thousands of mask-less people in attendance to drum up support for his 2020 re-election bid.

The excerpt details the meticulous effort behind the scenes at the White House to secure treatment options for Trump, even as the world’s top pharmaceutical companies scrambled to come up with effective vaccines against the coronavirus.

Among those most fearful of the prospect of Trump not returning to the White House was Mark Meadows, former chief of staff. He was “consumed with fear” that Trump would die from the disease, the excerpt says.

When he contracted the virus, Trump was considered a high-risk patient because of his age and weight.

Trump was far sicker than he wanted the public to know, the excerpt says.

Aides heard he was “gravely ill.” At one point over the weekend after his positive diagnosis, he had unexpectedly missed a public event with nursing home representatives, according to the excerpt. Former Vice President Mike Pence had to sub in for him.

Read the original article on Business Insider

June 27, 2021

CDC director Robert Redfield ‘prayed’ Trump would understand how serious COVID-19 was after contracting it, a book excerpt says

Trump, Redfield — Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Robert Redfield passes U.S. President Donald Trump as he approaches the podium to address the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 22, 2020.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

CDC Director Robert Redfield hoped contracting the coronavirus would make then President Donald Trump treat the disease more seriously, a new book excerpt says.
The excerpt is from a forthcoming book by two Washington Post reporters.
Redfield prayed Trump would finally begin to tell Americans to mask up and follow safety guidelines issued by health authorities.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prayed that former President Donald Trump would take the coronavirus more seriously after being diagnosed with it, according to a new book by two reporters from the Washington Post.

An excerpt of the book, “Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,” illustrates the White House’s chaotic response to Trump’s October 2020 COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization at the Walter Reed Medical Center. The book, written by Yasmeen Abultaeb and Damian Paletta, is due for release on June 29.

Over the weekend that Trump announced that he and then first lady Melania had the virus, Redfield prayed for a recovery, the excerpt says. Redfield also prayed that it would be a wake-up call for the president, who for months at this point had flouted or mocked COVID-19 safety restrictions like mask-wearing.

He also held giant rallies with thousands of mask-less people in attendance to drum up support for his 2020 re-election bid.

Redfield “prayed that Trump would tell Americans they should listen to public health advisers before it was too late,” the excerpt says.

Just days after his hospitalization, Trump walked the White House South Lawn. Watching the event unfold on television, Redfield prayed again, this time that the former president would “show some humility” and “remind people that anyone could be susceptible to the coronavirus – even the president, the first lady and their son. That he would tell them how they could protect themselves and their loved ones.”

But Trump didn’t do that. Instead, he took off his mask and gave the cameras a thumbs up, the excerpt says.

In a video taken just over the weekend while at Walter Reed, Trump appeared to be visibly paler than usual. He released a video from the hospital, saying he felt “much better now.” In the video message, Trump appeared to have no trouble speaking and breathing.

During the moment he addressed the cameras on the South Lawn, he was likely still contagious.

“He made a military salute as the helicopter departed the South Lawn, and then strode into the White House, passing staffers on his way and failing to protect them from the virus particles emitted from his nose and mouth,” the excerpt says.

That’s when Redfield began to understand the hospitalization changed neither Trump nor his response to the coronavirus, according to the excerpt.

Read the original article on Business Insider

December 8, 2020

Doctor who criticized Trump’s actions during COVID-19 hospital stay removed from Walter Reed schedule: report

Dr. James Phillips has been removed from the schedule at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center beginning in January, according to CBS News.
Phillips criticized President Donald Trump for his decision to greet supporters while he was being treated for COVID-19 in October.
During an October 5 interview on “Today,” Phillips said that Trump’s actions were “a dangerous move” and the “wrong message to be sending.”
Walter Reed officials told CBS News that the hospital “provides requirements for contract positions,” and stated that “schedules are determined by the contractor.”
The president was treated at Walter Reed for four days before being released.
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Dr. James Phillips, the emergency room physician who called out President Donald Trump for his decision to greet supporters while he was being treated for the coronavirus in October, has been removed from the schedule at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center beginning in January, according to CBS News.

On October 4, Trump rode in a motorcade with attending Secret Service agents while still being infected with COVID-19. Phillips, the chief of disaster and operational medicine at George Washington University and an attending physician at Walter Reed, harshly criticized the president’s actions at the time.

In a tweet that has since been deleted, Phillips wrote: “Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.”

He added in another tweet that has also been deleted: “That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID-19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.”

During an October 5 interview on “Today,” Phillips said that Trump’s actions were “a dangerous move” and the “wrong message to be sending.”

Officials at Walter Reed told CBS News that the hospital “provides requirements for contract positions,” and stated that “schedules are determined by the contractor.”

They added: “There was no decision made by anyone at WRNMMC to remove Dr. Phillips from the schedule.”

This decision comes more than two months after Phillips’ initial criticism and a month after President-elect Joe Biden defeated Trump in the November general election.

“Colleagues of Dr. Phillips were surprised that a disaster medicine specialist would be eliminated from the schedule at a busy military hospital at a time when Maryland is nearing a record high for COVID-19 hospitalizations,” according to CBS News.

Trump, who revealed his COVID-19 diagnosis on October 2, stayed at the Walter Reed facility in Bethesda, Maryland for four days before being released. The first lady, Melania Trump, and their son, Barron, were also infected with the virus but recuperated at the White House.

Read the original article on Business Insider