Trump, Melania in Quarantine After White House Aide Hope Hicks Tests Positive for COVID-19

President Donald Trump poses with former communications director Hope Hicks shortly before making his way to board Marine One on the South Lawn and departing from the White House on March 29, 2018. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump is in quarantine after White House adviser Hope Hick tested positive for COVID-19.

Hicks, 31, is the closest aide to Trump to test positive so far to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which originated from Wuhan, China.

The president confirmed the news during a phone interview Thursday night with Fox’s Sean Hannity.

“I just went out for a test,” the 74-year-old president said. “It will come back later I guess, and the first lady also because we spend a lot of time with Hope and others.

“Whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know,” he told Hannity.

President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 29, 2020. Carlos Barria/Reuters

He later confirmed on Twitter and Facebook that he and the first lady were going into quarantine.

“Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19,” Trump wrote. “Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!”

The president told Hannity during the interview, “It’s very, very hard when you are with people from the military or from law enforcement, and they come over to you and they want to hug you and they want to kiss you because we really have done a good job for them, and you get close and things happen.

Counselor to the President Hope Hicks walks from Marine One to accompany President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Sept. 30, 2020. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

“I was surprised to hear with Hope, but she’s a very warm person with them, and she knows there’s a risk.”

Bloomberg, the outlet first to report the news of the positive COVID-19 test by citing unnamed sources from the White House, noted that all of the president’s staff wear masks when traveling with him aboard Marine One. Hicks was wearing a mask when flying with Trump this week.

“She’s a hard worker, a lot of masks,” Trump said. “She wears masks a lot, but she tested positive.”

Hicks was also traveling with the president aboard Air Force One on Tuesday night to the first presidential debate.

A White House official told CBS News, “Contact tracing has been done and the appropriate notifications and recommendations have been made.”

The Associated Press had reported that an administration official said Hicks tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

Hicks previously served as White House communications director and re-joined the administration this year ahead of the election.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.