US President Donald Trump's first on-camera interview since Covid-19 infection. Video / Fox News
Donald Trump has indicated he's not completely clear of coronavirus, raising concern over a massive rally he's planning.
The US President has revealed he was tested for the coronavirus on Friday and while he did not know the exact results, he was "either the bottom of the scale or free" of the infection.
He expected to be tested again on Saturday.
But critics have been quick to react, saying they weren't aware there was a "scale" for the virus, and questioning whether he's contagious.
Trump, eager to get back on the campaign trail, has announced a "law and order" speech in front of a crowd on the White House South Lawn and a comeback rally in Florida.
With #Covid19, I thought we're either positive or negative. Now thanks to @realDonaldTrump I see we have a third possibility: "bottom of the scale". Kinda like, 'almost not pregnant'... #Trumphttps://t.co/IFics75NWh
"Please, Mr. President, do not travel to Florida for a political rally while infected with #COVID19," Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Nikki Fried, wrote on Twitter.
"That is an unnecessary risk of life to Floridians and to those around you.
Trump opened up about his ongoing recovery on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News on Friday night.
The US President appeared in his first on-camera interview since being hospitalised with the infection a week ago, but still wouldn't go into any details on questions the White House has been asked for days - what were the results of his lung scans and when did he last test negative?
The president was pressed on his experience with the virus in what was being promoted as a "medical examination" with Dr Mark Siegel, a Fox News contributor.
Trump's doctor has repeatedly refused to provide any details on aspects of the president's health, including results of chest scans and when he had his last negative test.
Siegel pressed Trump on the scans in the interview.
"They tested the lungs," Trump said.
"They tested the lungs. They have incredible equipment at Walter Reed. In fact they said, 'No, you can leave your jacket on.' I said, 'I'll take it off anyway, if you want.'
"Initially it had some congestion in there but ultimately it tested good and with each day it got better," he went on, without going into further detail.
Earlier this week Dr Sean Conley struggled to tell reporters how they could ensure Trump's safety and those of White House employees and aides if it was not revealed when he last tested negative.
White House officials have also refused to answer but the details could help figure out the course of the president's illness and when he may have been contagious.
Critics say the White House's refusal to answer makes it hard not to wonder what they're hiding, given other details they've shared.
Trump told Fox News he was "medication-free" as of Friday and feeling "really, really strong", although he admitted he didn't feel that way initially.
"What were your two most prominent symptoms?" Siegel asked the president.
"I didn't feel strong, didn't feel really strong. I didn't have a problem with breathing, which a lot of people have, I didn't have a problem with that," Trump said of his hospitalisation at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre.
"But I didn't feel very strong, I didn't feel very vital like the president of the United States should feel," he went on.
When Trump left hospital he said he could have left earlier because he felt better than he had in a long time.
"Don't let it dominate. Don't let it take over your lives. Don't let that happen," he said at the time.
The Fox News appearance was the president's first televised interview since being diagnosed with Covid-19 exactly one week ago.
Trump spoke for the first time about his four-day stay at Walter Reed and described having a "sore throat" and feeling fatigued. He credited early action with his speedy recovery.
Trump was treated with an experimental cocktail of drugs like Regeneron which are not yet approved for widespread use, but vowed to make them available for the American people.
Trump said doctors wanted to keep him in for observation.
"You know, they wanted to be sure it was good. But ... I was there for, I guess, three-and-a-half days. They wanted to keep me. I wanted to leave after the first day. I really felt I was in not bad shape. After the first day, I think I would have been in much worse shape had I not taken this [Regeneron] medication."
On Thursday night, Conley said the president had completed his treatment and cleared him to return to his public duties.
The president faced criticism last weekend after he briefly left Walter Reed on Sunday to wave to supporters who had gathered outside the medical facility.
"I could hear them from the hospital," Trump recalled.
"I was way up high. And, you know, [I'm in] this very fortified military hospital that's, you know, built to the highest standard. And yet through these very powerful windows, I could hear people screaming and shouting and with love, with real love.
"And after two days, I said, 'You know, I want to go out and say hello to the people.' And I went to Secret Service. And these are the people that are with me all the time. And they said, 'We have no problem, sir.' I said, 'I just want to take a drive by them and just wave.' And you saw what happened.
"It was a great display of love out there. I don't think there was one negative person, and there was many, many, many people."
Siegel, 64, is an associate professor of medicine at the NYU Langone Medical Centre and did not treat the president throughout his coronavirus ordeal.
The physician, who is a Fox News medical contributor, has also been criticised for his remarks on the pandemic after he claimed in March that there was "no reason to believe it's actually more problematic or deadly than influenza".
Siegel also called the World Health Organisation — a UN body since condemned for failing to crack down on the origins of the plague in Wuhan, China — a bunch of "alarmists" and "sabre rattlers".
Siegel asked Trump where he thought he contracted the virus following a week of travel around the country.
Earlier Friday, Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the government's coronavirus task force called the Rose Garden confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett as Trump's Supreme Court nominee a "super-spreader event."
"They had some big events at the White House. I'm not sure," the president said.
