Trump’s national security adviser tests positive for coronavirus
US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for coronavirus, the White House confirmed today.
In a statement, the White House confirmed that there was no risk of exposure to either the President or vice-president Mike Pence.
The 54-year-old O’Brien, who is the most senior official in the Trump administration to have tested positive for the virus, is working in self-isolation.
“He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site. There is no risk of exposure to the President or the vice-president,” the statement read.
“The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted.”
It is unclear when Trump last met with O’Brien, who normally works in an office very close to the President’s.
The two men last appeared together on a trip to Miami two weeks ago. According to Bloomberg, O’Brien has been out of the office for a week.
The adviser contracted the disease after attending a family event, Bloomberg added.
A number of other White House staff have already tested positive for the virus, including a military valet and Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller.
Staff who work in the White House are regularly tested for the virus.
A lawyer by trade, O’Brien was appointed national security adviser in September 2019 after the resignation of his predecessor John Bolton.