Washington, D.C. residents and visitors reacted to the stunning news Friday that President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have both tested positive for coronavirus.

The White House said that President Donald Trump was suffering “mild symptoms” of COVID-19, making the announcement after he returned from an evening fundraiser without telling the crowd he had been exposed to an aide with the disease that has killed a million people worldwide.

The announcement that the president of the United States and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive, tweeted by Trump shortly after midnight, plunged the country deeper into uncertainty just a month before the presidential election.

However, White House aides said he was in good spirits and working in quarantine in the family quarters.

Trump has spent much of the year downplaying the threat of a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans.

His diagnosis was sure to have a destabilizing effect in Washington and around the world, raising questions about how far the virus has spread through the highest levels of the U.S. government.

Hours before Trump announced he had contracted the virus, the White House said a top aide who had traveled with him during the week had tested positive.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm

QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL:
Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake
Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake
Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2FJ0oQZ
Email us at quicktakenews@gmail.com

QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.