Robert O’Brien, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has tested positive for Covid-19, making him the highest profile Trump official to get the virus, an administration official confirmed.
It’s unclear how O’Brien was exposed to the coronavirus or how much in-person contact he’s had recently with Trump. Anyone who is near the president is tested regularly for the disease.
According to a White House statement, O’Brien “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 work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted.”
O’Brien, 54, and his deputy Matt Pottinger were early internal advocates of swift action to combat the outbreak. More recently, he has focused on coordinating the administration’s pushback against a rising China — he went to Paris earlier this month to meet with several European counterparts about China and other foreign policy issues, bringing along several conservative journalists. In late June, he traveled to Arizona to give a tough speech comparing Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Josef Stalin.
According to Bloomberg News, which first reported O’Brien’s positive test, he “contracted the virus while taking a few days off from work, spending time with his family” and is currently working from home. A White House official said O’Brien was visiting family late last week, and NSC staffers who interacted with O’Brien are getting tested, although it’s unknown how many. An NSC spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In March, O’Brien and Pottinger took steps to prevent a potential outbreak within the NSC by dividing the council’s front-office support staff in half and running each half from different offices. Pottinger, whose brother is a virologist, has been one of the most vocal proponents of measures like masking and temperature checks among the White House staff.
O’Brien’s diagnosis brings the virus into the top ranks of the administration for the first time. Previous White House aides to be infected include Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence’s top communications aide, and also a personal valet for the president.
Last week, a Marine assigned to Trump’s helicopter squadron tested positive for Covid-19. The cafeteria and another eatery at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building were also closed last week after a cafeteria employee tested positive for the virus.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of the president’s son Donald Trump Jr., received a positive test result for coronavirus, causing the couple to leave early from Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech during the July 4 holiday weekend.
