A10 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, JULY 28 , 2020
The coronavirus pandemic
and Vice President Pence’s press
secretary have previously tested
positive for the virus.
O’Brien, appointed to his role in
September, was named to the
White House coronavirus task
force when it was launched in
January.
O’Brien’s tenure as national se-
curity adviser has been calmer
than the incendiary one of his
predecessor, John Bolton. A for-
eign policy hawk, especially in re-
gard to China, O ’Brien w as among
the first administration officials
to squarely blame that country for
failing to stop the virus from
spreading beyond its borders.
Speaking at a foreign policy fo-
rum on Feb. 5, O’Brien said China
hid the extent of the outbreak in
its early weeks and cost the rest of
the world precious weeks to pre-
pare. At that time, Trump was still
saying that the virus was not a
threat to the United States and
that Chinese President Xi Jinping
was doing a good job containing
the outbreak.
O’Brien’s positive test was first
reported by Bloomberg News.
[email protected]
[email protected]taining a social distance, main-
taining rigorous hygiene, avoid
large gatherings and crowded in-
door bars and wear masks when
appropriate.”
O’Brien is in frequent contact
with Trump and is known to be in
the inner circle of his advisers.
They l ast appeared publicly togeth-
er during a visit to the U.S. South-
ern Command in Florida on July
10, before O’Brien left for a trip to
Europe that spanned several days.
O’Brien has told friends that he
thinks he became infected at a
family gathering roughly a week
ago, one person familiar with his
case said. The person spoke on t he
condition of anonymity because
he was not authorized to discuss
the case on the record.
White House economic adviser
Larry Kudlow told reporters a t the
White House on Monday that he
believes that O’Brien’s daughter
also had contracted the virus and
that O’Brien could have been in-
fected by her.
“I think it’s a l ight case,” Kudlow
said. “I wish him well.... He’s a
fabulous colleague and a brilliant
policymaker.”
One of Trump’s military valetsthe virus that has shuttered
schools and businesses and al-
tered much of daily life. Trump
has said that he will wear a mask
when necessary but that he does
not need to do so when those
around him have all been tested.
Trump has said he is tested
daily, while press secretary Kay-
leigh McEnany said last week that
Trump is sometimes tested more
than once a day. The president
later said he had not been tested
more than once on a given day.
Following a tour of the facility,
Trump likened the push for a vac-
cine to a wartime effort, predicted
a quick economic rebound from
the pandemic and repeated mis-
leading statistics about the num-
ber of tests conducted in the Unit-
ed States. He also said his reelec-
tion campaign shows that he is
leading in opinion polls, t he oppo-
site of findings in independent
national polls.
“We need all Americans to be
conscious about their actions and
to exercise extreme vigilance,”
Trump said. “I trust all Americans
to do the right thing, but we
strongly advise everyone to espe-
cially, especially, focus on main-BY ANNE GEARAN
AND JOHN WAGNERRobert C. O’Brien, President
Trump’s national security adviser,
has tested positive for the novel
coronavirus, the White House said
Monday as the United States re-
corded more than 26,000 new cas-
es of the infection that is coursing
out of control.
O’Brien is the highest-ranking
Trump administration official
known to have tested positive for
the virus. Trump said Monday t hat
he had not seen O’Brien recently,
but the White House did not re-
spond to questions about their
interactions, w hether other White
House employees might have
been exposed or the timing of
O’Brien’s illness.
“He has mild symptoms and
has been self-isolating and work-
ing from a secure location off site,”
the White House said in a state-
ment about O’Brien. “There is no
risk of exposure to the President
or the Vice President. The work of
the National Security Council con-
tinues uninterrupted.”
The White House did not re-
spond to questions about how
O’Brien’s illness was discovered.
For several weeks, the White
House has been routinely admin-
istering rapid-result tests for the
coronavirus to most people who
will be in proximity to Trump.
O’Brien h as been working regu-
larly out o f his White House office,
and most NSC staff members and
other White House staffers are
also working in their offices dur-
ing the p andemic, i n contrast with
many businesses and private em-
ployers.
“I haven’t seen him lately,”
Trump said as he left the White
House for a trip to North Carolina,
where the president toured a bio-
tech lab involved in the research
effort toward a coronavirus vac-
cine.
“I heard he t ested, yeah,” Trump
said, adding that he planned to
call O’Brien later Monday.
The president was not wearing
a mask as he spoke and did not
wear one later in the day at the
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnolo-
gies facility in Morrisville, N.C.
Federal health officials recom-
mend face coverings as a front-
line defense against the spread of
Trump’s national security adviser tests positive
JABIN BOTSFORD/THE WASHINGTON POST
National security adviser Robert C. O’Brien at the White House this month. President Trump says he
hasn’t seen O’Brien recently. They were last seen in public together in Florida on July 10.BY ANNIE LINSKEYThe presidential debate in Sep-
tember will be moved to Ohio from
Indiana after the University of
Notre Dame withdrew from host-
ing the event Monday over con-
cerns about the safety of holding a
large-scale public event amid a pan-
demic.
“The constraints the coronavirus
pandemic put on the event — as
understandable and necessary as
they are — have led us to withdraw,”
said Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre
Dame’s president, in a post on the
university’s website.
Instead, the event — the first
debate between President Trump
and presumptive Democratic nom-
inee Joe Biden — will take place at a
shared health campus of Case West-
ern Reserve University and Cleve-
land Clinic, according to the Com-
mission on Presidential Debates.
“This pandemic has highlighted
the critical importance of health
care and scientific discovery in un-
precedented ways,” said a joint
statement by Tom Mihaljevic, presi-
dent and CEO of Cleveland Clinic,
and Case Western President Barba-
ra R. Snyder. “To have the presiden-
tial candidates discuss these issues
in our innovative learning space
represents a tremendous opportu-
nity for both institutions — and our
entire region.”
Reached by phone, B ill Lubinger,
a spokesman for Case Western, de-
clined to say why the Cleveland
institutions believe they could host
a safe event when Notre Dame has
concluded it could not.
Ohio has about 10 coronavirus
infections per 100,000 people, and
the state’s infections are trending
down, according to Washington
Post data. Indiana is seeing 12 infec-
tions per 100, 000 and is experienc-
ing a slight uptick in rates.
The Commission on Presidential
Debates has scheduled three
Trump-Biden encounters, in addi-
tion to one between the running
mates. The Trump campaign has
sought more debates, a common
request for a candidate trailing in
the polls, while Biden has said he
will stick to the commission’s plan.
“ President Trump looks forward
to debating Joe Biden in more
events and as early as possible toaccount for people voting early,”
campaign spokesman Tim Mur-
taugh said Monday. “We hope
Biden isn’t looking for excuses to
duck debates the same way he
ducks the media.”
Biden’s campaign suggested its
candidate is embracing the oppor-
tunity to directly confront the in-
cumbent.
“Joe Biden said in June that he
looks forward to debating Donald
Trump on the dates and in the
locations chosen by the [Commis-
sion on Presidential Debates],” said
Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the
Biden campaign.
Monday’s announcement repre-
sents the latest coronavirus-related
disruption to a topsy-turvy cam-
paign.
Last week, Trump directed the
Republican National Committee to
sharply scale back the party’s con-
vention, the final chapter in a saga
involving whether and where the
event would be held. It was initially
set for Charlotte but was later divid-
ed into a two-part event after North
Carolina authorities refused to
guarantee mass gatherings, with
the more public, in-person e vents to
be held in Jacksonville, Fla.
But as infections rose in Florida,
Jacksonville’s leaders grew more
concerned, and Trump ultimately
scrapped the plan, meaning the
Republicans’ convention will be
largely virtual.
Democrats made a similar deci-
sion months ago, with less drama.
They shifted their convention from
July to August and announced they
would hold only a small gathering
in their host city of Milwaukee, with
most of the event to be conducted
virtually.
Another debate has also moved
locations due to the pandemic. T hat
event is now scheduled to take place
at t he Adrienne Arsht Center for the
Performing Arts in Miami after the
University of Michigan pulled out.
The first debate is set for Sept. 29
in Cleveland. The second, on Oct. 15,
will be the one in Miami. The final
debate is set for Oct. 22 and remains
at its original location, Belmont
University in Nashville. The vice
presidential debate is set for Oct. 7
at the University of Utah in Salt
Lake City.
[email protected]Notre Dame backs out of
hosting Trump-Biden debate