WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
O’Brien, 54, has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site, the White House said Monday, according to a pool report.
The White House said there is no risk of exposure to the president or Vice President Mike Pence, and the work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted, the pool report said.
Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Trump said of O'Brien: "I haven’t seen him lately. I heard he tested [positive]," adding, "I’m calling him later."
The president said he doesn't know when O'Brien tested positive.
O'Brien became the White House national security adviser in September.
Bloomberg first reported that O’Brien had tested positive for the disease. The news comes just a few days after NBC News reported that a cafeteria and an eatery in the Eisenhower Executive Building next door to White House were both closed last week after a cafeteria worker tested positive for the coronavirus.
Several other White House staffers have previously tested positive, including one of Pence’s closest aides, press secretary Katie Miller, the wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller. The president’s personal valet had also tested positive for COVID-19.
Trump still receives rapid coronavirus tests on a daily basis. While the White House recently ended regular temperature checks for people entering the White House grounds, those coming into close proximity to the president are still given the rapid tests.
