On Monday night, President Trump downplayed the severity of COVID-19, even as the death toll in the U.S. surpassed 210,000. Standing unmasked on the Truman Balcony of the White House, he said, “Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment. We have the best medicines. All developed recently. And you’re going to beat it. I went — I didn’t feel so good. And two days ago, I could’ve left two days ago. Two days ago, I felt great, like better than I have in a long time. I said just recently, better than 20 years ago.”
There’s still not a clear sense of Trump’s health right now, but as president, has access to the best doctors and medical care in the world, plus drugs and treatments unavailable to most Americans.
Not long after Trump returned to the White House, his administration blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s stricter guidelines for the emergency release of a vaccine. But the FDA said today it will stick to the stricter standard anyway.