This evening, after three days at Walter Reed, yet still contagious--his doctors say he is not yet out of danger--President Trump left the hospital. He apparently didn't like being cooped up.
On Twitter, prior to returning to The White House, Mr. Trump--as he has, so often--minimized the virus's severity:
"Don’t be afraid of Covid," he wrote, on the day that the number of deaths in America, due to the virus, passed 210,000. "Don’t let it dominate your life."
After leaving Marine One, and ascending the White House steps, Mr. Trump looked out over the South Lawn. The event was being broadcast live, during the network newscasts.
Then--it was an extraordinary, ostentatious, deeply jarring moment--he took off his mask, and put it in his coat pocket.
Moments later, he gave a "thumbs up" sign. Soon, after saluting Marine One as it began its takeoff, he turned around, and entered the building. He was greeted by what appeared to be a small group of people inside.
One wonders: Did it cross his mind--for even an instant--that by removing his mask he might be putting those working for him, in The White House (or perhaps, one should say, those who remain in The White House; the list of those infected with COVID continues to grow), in danger?
