President Trump could be experiencing the side-effects of the drug Dexamethasone, while his top aide and chief speechwriter revealed today he has coronavirus.
Dexamethasone is part of Trump’s aggressive anti-COVID-19 medicinal cocktail.
According to the Mayo Clinic, that steroid’s known side-effects include aggression, agitation, anxiety, irritability, mood changes and noisy, rattling breathing and weight gain.
It’s also possible Trump could experience “trouble thinking, speaking, or walking” as a result of that steroid, which was prescribed to regulate his oxygen levels.
The drug is used to “suppresses the immune system to prevent the release of substances that can trigger inflammation,” according to the CDC, which also warns it can cause “grandiose delusions.”
Trump’s physicians said they decided to give him dexamethasone after his oxygen levels dropped twice.
Trump was given oxygen twice before his doctor made the decision to give him dexamethasone, which he will stay on ‘for the time being.’
Meanwhile, senior administration officials confirmed tonight that Stephen Miller, Trump’s top speechwriter and a policy adviser, had tested positive for the coronavirus, joining a growing list of Trump’s close aides who have the virus.
“Over the last five days I have been working remotely and self-isolating, testing negative every day through yesterday,” Miller said in a statement. “Today, I tested positive for Covid-19 and am in quarantine.”
Miller is married to Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence’s communications director.
A senior administration official said Miller, who contracted the virus this spring and returned to work in May, was tested Tuesday morning and was negative for any new infection.
Today, many White House offices were empty as officials stayed home to wait out the infectious period from an outbreak of the coronavirus within the building and among people who had been there.
The White House communications and press shops were bereft of people.
The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, announced on Monday that she had tested positive.
Two other press office aides have also contracted the virus, and three more aides today were said to have tested positive.
The outbreak in the White House, which has extended to some lawmakers on Capitol Hill, has raised concerns in the city that surrounds it. Washington, D.C., which has managed to bring infection rates down in recent weeks through preventive laws and high rates of compliance, has almost no control over the federal government.
The city reported 105 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest number since June 3.
The gathering at the Rose Garden would have violated the city’s mandates limiting the size of gatherings and requiring masks.
But because the White House is on federal property, it is exempt from such rules.
City officials said they would be closely monitoring infection trends for several days to see if the Capitol and White House cases affected the city’s overall infection rate.