It's the NPR politics podcast. I'm Scott Detro. I cover the presidential campaign.

And I'm Tamer Keith. I cover the White House.

It's just after 830 on Friday morning and the president of the United States has the

coronavirus. Both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive.

This could have enormous implications for both the chain of command of the federal government

and for the final weeks of a presidential election,

were more than a million people have already voted.

Tam, let's just start with what we know and when we found out.

Yeah, so we found out that the president had tested positive about one AM with a tweet from the

president that was followed quickly with a memo from the White House physician.

He said that both the president and the First Lady are doing well at this time.

Though they are both positive for COVID and that the medical team will maintain a vigilant watch.

And he added that he expects the president to continue to carry out his duties without disruption.

So what we know is that the president and the First Lady are going to be staying at home.

White House official told me that they're in good spirits.

But we don't know how the president or the First Lady will be affected by this.

We just don't know.

And what we do know is that there is documented evidence at this point that older people are more susceptible to serious cases

and heavier people are more susceptible to serious cases.

President Trump fits both of those conditions, but Tam, a major storyline of the entire year has been

the fact that President Trump has downplayed, has dismissed, has ignored the basic precautions that many

people recommend, including wearing masks, avoiding large gatherings, things like that.

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