Donald Trump unlikely to hit campaign trail until Monday

Washington

President Donald Trump is itching to get back on the campaign trail after being sidelined by a COVID-19 infection but is unlikely to hold any in-person events until at least Monday, aides said yesterday. Trump said on Thursday night he hoped to hold campaign rallies in the crucial swing states of Florida on Saturday and Pennsylvania on Sunday.

But aides said the short notice would make the events difficult to stage. Questions remain about whether Trump, who announced on Oct. 2 he had the virus and spent three nights in a military hospital, is still contagious. Trump told Fox News he was likely to be tested for the virus yesterday.

The illness has kept the Republican president away from holding public rallies and attending fundraisers at a critical juncture of the campaign, as he trails Democratic rival Joe Biden in opinion polls with just weeks to go before the Nov. 3 election.

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said the president was hard at work and ready to go as soon as he got approval from his doctor, telling Fox News, “He wants to talk to the American people, and he wants to be out there.” Trump and his administration have faced criticism for their broad handling of the pandemic, as well as for a lax ap-proach to mask-wearing and social distancing in the White House and in recent days  confusing messages about how ill the president has been.

With Trump’s management of the pandemic dominating the campaign, a new Reuters/ Ipsos poll showed Ameri-cans are steadily losing confidence in how he has managed the health crisis with his net approval on the issue hit-ting a new low. White House physician Sean Conley said in a memo released on Thursday that Trump had completed his course of therapy for COVID-19, remained stable since returning home from the Walter Reed medical facility on Monday and could resume public engagements on Saturday