Coronavirus National Emergency: Donald Trump Clarifies Confusion Over His Negative Coronavirus Test

Donald Trump has attempted to clarify some of the confusion around his recent coronavirus test. [...]

By Christian Long

Donald Trump has attempted to clarify some of the confusion around his recent coronavirus test. The president was tested on for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, on Saturday. This came on the heels of reports that an aide to Brazilian President Jai Bolsonaro had tested positive after he'd spent the weekend of March 7 with Trump and other members of his cabinet at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said on Saturday, via NPR. "One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free. I have been in daily contact with the CDC and White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation."

Now, CNN reporter Daniel Dale has been live-tweeting the president's latest remarks on Monday, where he provided some detail as to the timeline of his testing. Although some of his answers were a little light on specifics.

In a series of follow-up tweets, Dale added that Trump said that "I've been very strongly tested." As far as specifics about the test itself, the president replied "Not, not uh - something I want to do every day... you know, it's a little bit of a -- it's a little bit of -- good doctors in the White House, but it's a test. It's a test. It's a medical test. Nothing pleasant about it."

Not long after, another reporter asked if the "buck stopped" with him as president, Dale pointed out that Trump replied, "Yeah, normally, but I think when you hear the -- you know, this has never been done before in this country."

Trump had declared a national emergency as a result of the coronavirus on Friday at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden, though that speech also came under fire.

"To unleash the full power of the federal government in this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency," Trump said Friday. "Two very big words. The action I am taking will open up access to $50 billion... for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease."

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