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WASHINGTON — President Trump released a four-minute video message on Wednesday afternoon updating the nation on his battle with the coronavirus and calling his infection with COVID-19 “a blessing from God.”
“Hi, perhaps you recognize me. It’s your favorite president,” Trump, clad in his trademark navy suit and red tie, said outside the Oval Office where he returned to work earlier in the day following two days in the residence.
The president praised a cocktail of experimental therapeutics with his rapid recovery after a four-day stay in the hospital and vowed to make these drugs available and free for every American struggling with the deadly respiratory drug.
“I went in, I wasn’t feeling so hot, and within a very short period of time they gave me Regeneron,” he said. “It was unbelievable. I felt good immediately. I felt as good three days ago as I do now,” he went on.
The commander-in-chief was helicoptered to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday with a spiking temperature and dropping oxygen levels — vital signs that his chief of staff Mark Meadows described as “very concerning.”
A “fatigued” Trump was administered Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail to help his body battle COVID-19, a treatment which is still in clinical trials and has yet to be approved for wider use.
He was released on Monday and has been recovering at the White House residence. Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s physician, has been pleased with Trump’s progress but cautioned that the 74-year-old commander-in-chief isn’t out of the woods yet.
On Wednesday, the president described the cocktail of drugs given to him as “incredible” and said he would rush their approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through executive action.
“It’s a cure. For me, I walked in, I didn’t feel so good. A short 24 hours later, I was feeling great. I wanted to get out of the hospital,” he said.
“That’s what I want for everybody. I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president, because I feel great,” he went on.
“I feel, like, perfect. So I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise,” he said.
The president said it was his idea to take Regeneron and told the American people he was going to make it available for them, even as the company’s CEO said a lot of work still had to be done before it was approved for wider use.
“I want to get for you, what I got, and I’m going to make it free. You’re not going to pay for it,” he said.
“It wasn’t your fault that this happened. It was China’s fault, and China is going to pay a big price, what they’ve done to this country. China is going to pay a big price, what they’ve done to the world.”
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