President Trump takes his mask off before speaking from the South Portico of the White House during a rally on Saturday. He is traveling for another rally for the first time on Monday. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Updated at 5:51 p.m. ET
President Trump heads to Florida for a rally on Monday night, kicking off what his campaign is billing as a breakneck stretch of travel leading up to the Nov. 3 election.
In a memo released shortly after Trump departed on Air Force One, White House physician Sean Conley said the president had tested negative for the coronavirus on consecutive days. Conley said those negative results, combined with data they’ve collected from other various tests, show that Trump is not infectious.
Trump was released from hospital just a week ago, where he had been treated and monitored after catching the coronavirus. His doctors had cleared him for travel, and Trump has said he is feeling good.
“Look, the president — even this morning in our morning conversation — was getting on my case for not having enough rallies and public events scheduled. So he’s ready to go,” said Jason Miller, a senior adviser.
Miller told reporters that Trump will do “two to three events per day,” and even more, leading up to Election Day.
Trump trails his Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the polls and is under pressure to make up for lost time — particularly after the cancelation of the second in a series of presidential debates, planned for Thursday, which was canceled due to concerns about his health status.
As millions of Americans have already cast their ballots, Biden also has picked up the pace of campaign events. On Monday, he was in Toledo and Cincinnati, Ohio, and on Tuesday he will be in Pembroke Pines and Miramar, Fla.
Trump did his first public event on Saturday, when he spoke from a balcony to supporters on the South Lawn below. His speech was less than 20 minutes. Normally, his rally speeches go on for an hour, and sometimes longer.
Trump’s recent rallies have been mainly outdoors at airports, but his supporters have not generally observed social distancing guidelines, nor worn masks.
His campaign plans rallies in Pennsylvania, Iowa and North Carolina in the next three days.
