Masked Trump salutes fans outside Walter Reed hospital in motorcade drive-by

“I really appreciate all of the fans and supporters outside of the hospital,” Trump wrote. “The fact is, they really love our Country and are seeing how we are MAKING IT GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!”

He followed that tweet up with a video less than two hours later, echoing his remarks and praising the “amazing” work done by the medical staff at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

He then hinted that he was going to make a “little surprise visit” to the “patriots out there on the street,” before footage subsequently emerged of Trump, wearing a mask, waving at the cheering crowd from his motorcade.

Following the surprise spectacle, Judd Deere, the deputy press secretary, confirmed that the president returned to Walter Reed.

“President Trump took a short, last-minute motorcade ride to wave to his supporters outside and has now returned to the Presidential Suite inside Walter Reed,” he said.

Subsequently Dr. James P. Phillips, the attending physician at Walter Reed, criticized the president for the stunt.

“Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days,” he tweeted. “They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.”

In a second tweet, he added: “That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.”

Earlier Sunday, the president’s medical team said Trump’s health continues to improve following his coronavirus diagnosis, and had said he may be discharged from the hospital as early as Monday.

During a press conference late Sunday morning at Walter Reed National Military Medical Hospital, Dr. Sean Conley confirmed that Trump was given supplemental oxygen on Friday out of concern of “possible rapid progression of the illness,” which the president was adamantly against. Conley said the president had a “high fever,” and his oxygen saturation was dipping below 94%.

“Today he feels well. He’s been up and around. Our plan for today is to have him to eat and drink, be up out of bed as much as possible, to be mobile. And if he continues to look and feel as well as he does today, our hope is that we can plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow to the White House where he can continue his treatment course,” said Dr. Brian Garibaldi.

Following Conley’s press conference on Saturday, when he said he was “extremely happy” with Trump’s recovery process after officials described him as experiencing “mild symptoms,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows issued a statement that described Trump’s state of health Friday as “very concerning.”

“We’re still not on a clear path yet to a full recovery,” Meadows said.

Conley said Meadows’ statement was “misconstrued.” Meadows meant to highlight a “momentary episode of the high fever and that temporary drop in the saturation,” according to Conley. “Fortunately, that was really a very transient, limited episode. A couple hours later, he was back up, mild again. I’m not going to speculate what that limited episode was about so early in the course. But, he’s doing well.”