There have been several of cases of people near President Donald Trump — including a White House personal valet and V.P. Mike Pence‘s press secretary — testing positive for COVID-19. Now his daughter Ivanka‘s personal assistant reportedly has the coronavirus. But one bright spot for Ivanka — a senior aide to her father — is that the assistant has reportedly been working remotely for the past several weeks and has not been in physical contact the first daughter, according to CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Both Ivanka, 38, and her husband Jared Kushner, 39, tested negative for COVID-19 on May 8, hours before the news of Ivanka’s assistant’s positive test broke. HollywoodLife has not independently verified this information and we are reaching out to Ivanka’s rep for comment.
“Ivanka Trump’s personal assistant has tested positive for coronavirus, I’m told. The assistant, who works in a personal capacity, hasn’t been around Ivanka in several weeks & has been teleworking. Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner both tested negative today, source says,” Collins tweeted late in the evening of May 8. The assistant’s name has not been released.
The news comes after Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller — who is also the wife of President Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller, 34, — tested positive for the coronavirus on May 8. Trump addressed the news with reporters, while using it to throw subtle shade at testing for COVID-19. “Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of the sudden today she tested positive. She hasn’t come into contact with me. She spent some time with the vice president. She tested positive out of the blue. This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily great…I understand Mike has been tested and he tested negative,” Trump told White House reporters. Katie later confirmed the positive test to NBC News, but said that she was asymptomatic.
News — Ivanka Trump’s personal assistant has tested positive for coronavirus, I’m told. The assistant, who works in a personal capacity, hasn’t been around Ivanka in several weeks & has been teleworking. Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner both tested negative today, source says.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 9, 2020
Trump: Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of the sudden today she tested positive… This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily great pic.twitter.com/iM9Xo3jddU
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) May 8, 2020
On May 7 it was reported that one of Trump’s personal Oval Office valets — an elite member of the U.S. Navy — had tested positive for COVID-19 after exhibiting symptoms. Valets work closely with the president, taking care of his food and beverage requests and other West Wing needs. “We were recently notified by the White House Medical Unit that a member of the United States Military, who works on the White House campus, has tested positive for Coronavirus,” deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement. “The President and the Vice President have since tested negative for the virus and they remain in great health.” The Centers for Disease Control warns that coronavirus incubation period has been estimated as between two and 14 days following exposure.
Trump, 73, and Pence, 60, have continued to defy CDC recommendations to wear face masks when around others to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When Pence visited Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic on Apr. 29, he broke the facility’s rule that all visitors wear face masks. He later told Fox News that “I didn’t think it was necessary,” because of how often he is tested, “but I should have worn the mask at the Mayo Clinic.” Trump has not worn a face mask to date, not even when touring an actual N95 mask factory in Arizona on May 5. The Honeywell facility had a sign near its entrance that clearly stated, “Please wear your mask at all times,” but Trump refused to wear one. On Apr. 3 when announcing that the CDC was recommending that all Americans wear face masks in public to stop the spread of COVID-19, Trump huffed to reporters, “This is voluntary. I don’t think I am going to be doing it,” rather than urging citizens to follow the CDC’s advice.