The latest on Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Tuesday that the second presidential debate should not be held if President Donald Trump is still infected with coronavirus, but that he would base his participation in the debate upon recommendations from medical experts.

He continued: "And so I'll be guided by the guidelines of the Cleveland Clinic, and what the docs say is the right thing to do — if and when he shows up for debate."

The former vice president also said he looks forward to the debate, which is set to take place next Thursday in Miami.

"I'm looking forward to being able to debate him. But I just hope all the protocols are followed, what's necessary at the time," he said.

Trump, who left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday after receiving treatment for the virus, is among more than a dozen people close to the administration or his reelection campaign who have contracted the virus in recent days.

The President tested positive last Thursday, but it's unclear when he may have contracted the virus as officials — including his physician Dr. Sean Conley — have repeatedly refused to disclose when he last tested negative.

Tonight's debate: night, Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden's running mate, are set to face off in their only debate of the 2020 cycle this evening.

Pence, who has been near a number of people who have contracted the virus, has tested negative for the virus several times in the last few days.

Read more here.

President Trump’s aides were successful in keeping him out of the West Wing on Tuesday, but there are few who believe he’ll willingly confine himself to the residence for much longer.  

Already, preparations have been made for his eventual return to the Oval Office, including positioning a so-called “Isolation Cart” stocked with yellow medical gowns, respirator masks and plastic goggles required for visitors just outside the office doors near where Trump’s assistants sit. 

Trump made phone calls and spoke with aides mostly from his third floor residence on Tuesday, but did tape a video from downstairs where offices were set up for him next to the medical suite. 

Any aide who comes near Trump is required to don the protective garb, according to a person familiar with the matter. It has given the White House residence the feeling of a sci-fi movie, one person said, as aides, staff and Secret Service personnel who need to come near Trump suit up to protect themselves. 

He could make his way back to the West Wing as early as Wednesday if he has his way. He has raised the possibility of working from the Oval Office instead of the rooms that have been arranged for him on the lower level of the executive mansion, saying he feels ready to go back. 

All except Trump’s senior-most aides are mostly in the dark about his health status beyond what his doctor released publicly. While he seemed short of breath at times on Monday night, people said he seemed somewhat better on Tuesday, though few actually saw him in person. 

It also wasn’t clear what drugs the president continues to take. He was due to receive his final does of remdesivir on Tuesday night at the White House but it wasn’t known if he remains on a steroid, which some inside the building have openly speculated could be altering his mood. 

Quarantined at home this week, the President’s adviser and daughter Ivanka Trump is making use of her time, participating in two lucrative fundraisers Tuesday. 

She headlined two virtual fundraisers, raising $10 million for the campaign, bringing her 2020 fundraising total to $25 million over six events, a Trump political aide said. 

“Ivanka remains the second most requested surrogate and fundraiser after the President,” the aide said. 

Trump, who traveled multiple times in recent weeks as a campaign surrogate, was potentially exposed to one of the three White House journalists who later tested positive during a trip to North Carolina. Trump did not wear a mask during a socially distanced conversation with Trump campaign adviser Mercedes Schlapp, but did wear a mask when she visited a local restaurant. She was also present for the presidential debate in Cleveland and traveled with the President on Air Force One.

“Out of an abundance of caution, she intends to work from home this week and her robust schedule will be conducted in a virtual capacity,” White House spokesperson Carolina Hurley told CNN's Kate Bennett Monday.

Trump and her husband Jared Kushner both tested negative for Covid-19 Monday morning, Hurley said.

CORRECTION: This post has been updated to reflect that Ivanka Trump wore a mask when she was unable to social distance.

Donald Trump, Jr. provided a brief update on his father’s health on Fox and Friends this morning, saying he's doing “great” and that he had “never even seen him sick.”

He dismissed a report in Vanity Fair that he and his siblings tried to get their father to slow down, calling it a “hit piece," swearing “on a stack of Bibles that it never happened.”

He continued, “I have never even seen him sick. I don't think I have ever seen him have the flu or anything like that. I knew he was going to get through. This more importantly while he was getting through it he was still fighting for the American people which is pretty awesome to see.”

Asked about stimulus negotiations, Trump claimed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has “substance issues” after she said steroids could be influencing the President.

Awaking at home Tuesday after a weekend spent in hospital, President Trump offered no indication his serious bout with coronavirus had changed his perceptions of a disease that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.

Instead, Trump signaled he was itching for a return to the campaign trail — even though the virus is ripping through his staff — as he mulled delivering an address to the nation.

With the West Wing largely vacant because staffers keep testing positive, Trump was isolating in the White House residence, where temporary office facilities have been stood up adjacent to the building's basement medical suite.

Just as he did inside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Trump has focused intently on the presidential campaign, which culminates less than a month. He received bad news on Tuesday when a CNN poll conducted by SSRS showed him trailing rival Joe Biden by 16 points, the widest margin of the race so far.

It remains unclear what Trump's return to the trail might look like: the lingering effects of Covid can leave patients exhausted for months and it wasn't clear what appetite remains for large mask-less rallies after Trump and his inner-circle all contracted the virus.

Doctors were continuing to monitor Trump's vital signs and he was expected to receive an intravenous dose of the antiviral remdesivir on Tuesday evening. His physicians had revealed over the weekend that Trump's oxygen levels dropped worrying low and that he had required supplemental oxygen.

The President met with a "team of physicians" at the residence on Tuesday morning after a "restful first night at home," a statement from his physician Dr. Sean Conley read. "Vital signs and physical exam remain stable, with an ambulatory oxygen saturation level of 95-97%."

"Overall he continues to do extremely well," Conley added. "I will provide updates as we know more."

Unlike the previous three days, were no briefings scheduled from Conley on Tuesday. He has repeatedly refused to answer questions about when Trump last tested negative, how high his fever became or the results of his lung scan, which he would only say were "expected."

Read more here.