President Trump said three more of his friends have died during the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump made the revelation during an event at the White House on Tuesday, following news that one of president’s close friends, real estate developer Stanley Chera, died of COVID-19 earlier this month. Trump said he has also spoken to other families of coronavirus victims.
“I’ve spoken to three, maybe four families unrelated to me. I lost a very good friend. I also lost three other friends,” the president said in the East Room of the White House.
“Two of them I didn’t know as well, but they were friends, people I did business with,” he added.
Trump first spoke about a friend who was sick with COVID-19 in March.
“I had a friend who went to a hospital the other day. He’s a little older, and he’s heavy, but he’s [a] tough person,” Trump said. “And he went to the hospital, and a day later, he’s in a coma. … He’s not doing well.”
“The speed and the viciousness, especially if it gets the right person, it’s horrible. It’s really horrible,” he added at the time.
On Tuesday, the United States had its 1 millionth confirmed case of the coronavirus. The U.S. death toll has also swelled to more than 58,000.
