July 27 (UPI) — Robert O’Brien, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said Monday.
“He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site.
“There is no risk of exposure to the president or the vice president. The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted.”
O’Brien is the highest-ranking White House official to test positive since the pandemic began.
CNN reported that he’s been working from home since last week and Bloomberg reported O’Brien has been running the National Security Council mainly by phone.
O’Brien spent three days in Paris earlier this month meeting with security officials from Britain, France, Germany and Italy, where they discussed containment and recovery efforts.
When asked before the trip why O’Brien was traveling to France rather than conducting the meeting via video conference, an administration official told Politico it was “more powerful making the case in person.
“There is no substitute for personal diplomacy,” the official said. “You can’t do that over Skype.”