White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, has tested positive for Coronavirus, according to two officials familiar with the matter, becoming the latest official in President Donald Trump’s administration to become infected with the virus after a string of outbreaks in the West Wing.
According to CNN, two other Trump staffers have also tested positive, officials said, lending further disquiet to an already-tense post-election White House.
Meadows, 61, told people after Tuesday’s election that he had contracted COVID, but it wasn’t clear when he first tested positive, according to the sources.
In the past, he has appeared skeptical of Coronavirus mitigation measures and has not often been seen wearing a mask.
He travelled with Trump aboard Air Force One during his final campaign swing on Sunday and Monday, accompanied the President on a visit to his campaign headquarters on Tuesday and attended a White House election night party where he came into close contact with members of the President’s family.
He was not seen wearing a mask during any of those engagements.
Earlier this week, he has been intensely involved in plotting the President’s post-election legal strategy, and has encouraged Trump
in his false claims that voter fraud could deprive him the Presidency.
Meadows was on a conference call with the Trump campaign senior legal team and others on the campaign late this week, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The development came as White House officials were already contending with the increasing likelihood that the President would lose the election to Joe Biden.
Earlier in the day, officials described a frenzied atmosphere as the President’s future remained in question.
The discovery the building’s top aide tested positive for Coronavirus only added to the consternation.
