By Lauren Egan -
NBC News
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump briefly left his hospital room at Walter Reed Military Medical Center, where he is being treated for COVID-19, to drive in front of a group of supporters, a move that was quickly criticized by medical experts. and legislators as "insane".
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The president posted a video on his Twitter account around 5:15 pm announcing that he would "give a little surprise to some of the great patriots that we have on the street."
A few minutes later, the presidential caravan passed slowly around the hospital where a crowd has been gathering since Friday night.
Trump could be seen through the window of an SUV waving and wearing what appeared to be a cloth mask
, rather than a more protective N95 mask.
The president isn't going anywhere without the protection of the Secret Service, and Sunday's trip was no exception.
At least two other people can be seen in the car with Trump.
Members of the Secret Service accompany President Trump as he left Walter Reed Hospital to greet his followers.Getty Images
The unannounced trip sparked outrage from several prominent Democratic lawmakers and some doctors
who were not involved in his care, who accused Trump of unnecessarily putting Secret Service agents at risk.
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Dr. James Phillips, Walter Reed's GP, tweeted that "the presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, it is hermetically sealed against chemical attack" and therefore the risk of transmission of COVID-19 it was "as high as possible outside of medical procedures."
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"Every person in the car during that completely unnecessary presidential 'ride' now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They can get sick. They can die. For a political theater. Ordered by Trump to put their lives at risk for a theater. This it's insane, "he added.
"It makes me sick to see him around other people in that car," Dr. Esther Choo, an emergency physician and professor of science and health at the University of Oregon, told our sister network MSNBC.
Dr. Céline Gounder, an infectious disease expert and professor at New York University, accused Trump of "putting the health of others at risk."
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Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-New Jersey, called the event "a bloody disgrace" on Twitter.
"To enjoy the adulation of a handful of his supporters, Trump endangered the lives of Secret Service agents and other members of his entourage," he added.
"It is criminally negligent for @realDonaldTrump to recklessly expose others," said Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. "Pray for the Secret Service."
President Trump greets supporters from the car outside the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland;
on October 4, 2020. AFP via Getty Images
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the move
in an interview with Fox News, stating that Trump "wanted to thank his supporters" and "give confidence to the American people that their Commander-in-Chief can overcome this." but did not answer questions about health safety concerns.
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Jason Miller, one of the Trump campaign's top advisers, insisted in an interview with CNN that Trump made the walk "safely," but could not answer questions about the precautions taken to keep agents safe. Secret Service.
"But we also know that the Secret Service takes great care of its agents, there is extra caution. I am not part of the White House operations or the White House medical unit. So I can't talk about the exact logistics, but I know that the Secret Service takes this very seriously, "Miller said.
When asked about the surprise presidential caravan, a Secret Service spokesman said: "We do not comment on the protection operations."
Trump's caravan trip on Sunday is the latest in a series of
efforts by the president and his allies to give the American public an optimistic picture of his coronavirus diagnosis
, often confusing the facts surrounding his illness and creating confusion about the health of the president.
Trump has posted several videos and photos of himself working in Walter Reed's presidential suite.
When asked at a press conference early Sunday
why the president does not wear a mask in any of these images
when presumably someone else was in the room capturing the moment, Dr. Sean Conley, a White House physician, He said the president wears a face mask when around doctors.
"The president wears a mask every time he's around us and we're all wearing our full N95 PPE (personal protective equipment)," Conley said, adding that when the time comes to get Trump out of the hospital and into the public, "We will talk about him wearing a mask."