2/21/2024 0 Comments Timothy harlethOn Sunday, Trump added to the concern that he might not take proper precautions to prevent spreading the virus when he enlisted Secret Service guards to drive him by a crowd of supporters outside Walter Reed. Presumably, the President and First Lady will also have to stay away from their 14-year-old son Barron, who lives with them in the residence, and recently tested negative for the disease. "That would be the thing that’s the most concerning, the valets and the butlers," Brower says. The valets, in particular, actually help dress him. Normally, two valets and a handful of butlers are the staffers that get the closest to the President-within that six-foot range where experts warn the virus can spread. (If his food is indeed being delivered-again, the details of Trump's quarantine set-up haven't been shared publicly.) The chief usher "runs the whole place," in Brower's words, and would be the one tasking staffers with responsibilities like, say, delivering the President's food to his room. "The chief usher is the one who knows everything that’s going on right now," Brower says, referring to Timothy Harleth, a onetime director of rooms at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, who took on this role in 2017. It is possible that this number could be temporarily reduced-for example, Brower believes the dozens of housekeepers could be whittled down to just two-but if the White House has plans to do so, they haven't been made public. Normally, around 100 staffers, from florists to butlers, are tasked with looking after the residence. JIM WATSON // Getty Images How might White House operations be modified in light of this development? The President and First Lady leaving a meeting in the East Room in July. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not respond to Town & Country's request for comment on the President and First Lady's quarantine arrangements-specifically, whether they are isolating together or separately, and what preparations are being made at the residence. "They have a very private world up there," she adds. So all of this chaos is going on downstairs, and they are sequestered upstairs," Brower says. "It was described to me as being like a Park Avenue apartment. It’s essentially like a giant family room," says Kate Andersen Brower, the author of The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, adding, "Instead of being locked in their bedrooms all day, that would be a place where they could go."Īlthough 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue also houses offices for copious staffers in the West Wing (and a smaller amount in the East Wing), it won't be hard for the Trumps to stay out of the way. "It’s this beautiful big room overlooking the south lawn, and it’s very open and airy and has beautiful views of the Washington Monument. It's also possible that one or both will choose to spend their quarantine in another room-like the picturesque solarium on the third floor. However, it's been reported that Melania actually sleeps in a different bedroom, and it's not clear if she'll be isolating with her husband or apart from him. The obvious choice is the master suite-a bedroom with an adjoining sitting room and bathroom on the second floor of the residence. Which rooms, exactly, they'll be staying in is less clear. The exact precautions that Donald and Melania Trump will be taken haven't been released publicly, but it has been confirmed that the First Lady has been staying residence, and the President plans to return there after his stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The CDC recommends that those who test positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolate themselves in their homes, staying in a room away from other household members and using a separate bathroom, if possible. Below, what we do know about the Trumps' quarantine-and a few educated guesses for what it might look like. However, it's not clear just what the coming days will look like for the President, or how exactly the First Lady has been self-isolating in the White House since Friday. Now, following Donald and Melania Trump's COVID-19 diagnoses-and the President's days-long hospital stay-they'll have to find a way to completely isolate themselves, if they are to follow their government's own guidelines. On a normal day in the White House, the President is rubbing shoulders with all manner of guests and West Wing staffers-workers who share surprisingly close quarters-on top of the 100-odd people who run the first family's residence.
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