The Biggest Questions Trump's Doctor Left Unanswered About His Health

If there was one message doctors attending to Donald Trump wanted to convey, it's that the president is doing all right. Lead doctor Sean Conley told reporters Saturday morning in a live press conference that he had recommended that the president be brought to Walter Reed Medical Center "as a precautionary measure and to provide state-of-the-art monitoring and any care he may need" (via NBC). 

He noted that 72 hours had passed since the COVID diagnosis was first handed down, and this time was the "most critical in the likely course of the illness." He emphasized that the medical team was happy with the progress the president had made, noting that on Thursday he had a mild fever and some nasal congestion as well as fatigue, which he said was improving. He said, in short, that the president is "doing very well," and that Trump was currently being monitored for any evidence of complications. Additionally, the president is on a five-day course of Remdesivir, an antiviral treatment. Conley noted that Trump said he felt like he could walk out of the hospital right now, which he insisted is a great sign.

But far from sending a message that reassured reporters, the medical team ended up raising more queries instead. Most of the questions had to do with the timeline involved in the diagnosis.

CNN'S Jim Acosta tweeted: "Doctor Conley would not definitively say whether Trump received supplemental oxygen during this covid illness. Though he did say he is not currently on oxygen." Another CNN correspondent, Abby D Phillip, raised the question of timelines which the doctors had not properly addressed. She tweeted: "The White House needs to clarify the timeline ASAP. If, based on the timeline provided by Dr. Conley, the president was symptomatic on Thursday and had tested positive for COVID-19 72 hours ago and yet carried on with his normal schedule, that would be shocking. 

CBS' Weijia Jiang also pointed out: "Doctors say the President is not on oxygen, does not have a fever, and is doing very well. They say he's in 'exceptionally good spirits' and joked he has a lot of work do from his Chief or Staff. They are not giving specifics, like how high his fever got."

One doctor also took to social media to highlight holes within the news conference, noting: "MY TAKEAWAYS: The timeline is off. 72 hours since his diagnosis? He was clearly on oxygen at some point. I mean, come on. This is important. No answer on steroids (it was asked). That would be very very revealing. We don't know his last negative test. We need to know."