Robert O’Brien is the first White House official known to have contracted the virus since May.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for the coronavirus – making him the highest-ranking official to test positive so far. The White House said O’Brien has mild symptoms and “has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site.” Officials did not respond to questions about the last time the president and O’Brien had contact, but the White House insisted that “There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President” and that the “work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted.” Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Monday that he wasn’t sure when his national security adviser had tested positive and that he hadn’t “seen him lately,” but would be giving O’Brien a call.White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow had said earlier that O’Brien’s daughter also has the virus and that is how officials think he was exposed. O’Brien also recently returned from a trip to France, where he met with top European officials and was photographed standing close to others and not wearing a mask. O’Brien is the first White House official known to have contracted the virus since May, when a personal valet to the president and the vice president’s press secretary tested positive for the virus that has now infected more than 4 million people nationwide.
