White House says Trump won’t follow NJ quarantine order

The White House has indicated that President Trump will not be quarantining for the required 14 days when he visits New Jersey this weekend. 

“The president of the United States is not a civilian,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday.

“Anyone who is in close proximity to him, including staff, guests, and press are tested for COVID-19 and confirmed to be negative,” Deere added.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D), along with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D), on Wednesday announced that visitors from states with large numbers of coronavirus cases, including Arizona, would be required to quarantine for two weeks. New Jersey, New York and Connecticut faced an early surge in cases and are beginning to recover. 

Earlier this week, Trump went to Arizona, where he visited the southern border and hosted a campaign rally.

“With regard to Arizona, the White House followed its COVID mitigation plan to ensure the President did not come into contact with anyone who was symptomatic or had not been tested,” Deere added on Thursday. “Anyone traveling in support of the president this weekend will be closely monitored for symptoms and tested for COVID and therefore pose little to no risk to the local populations.”

CNBC first reported the White House’s position.

On Saturday, Trump held his first in-person campaign rally since the start of the pandemic in Oklahoma, another state experiencing a rise in cases.  

Hours before the Tulsa rally, six Trump campaign staffers tested positive for the virus. In another round of testing after the rally, two more tested positive.