Updated Mar 12, 2020 - Politics & Policy
Bolsonaro aide tests positive for coronavirus days after Trump meeting
Bolsonaro (L) at dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, March 7. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's press secretary tested positive for coronavirus days after taking part in meetings with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reports and multiple American outlets have confirmed.
The latest: Bolsonaro is currently being monitored, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten, the aide, was photographed with Trump on Saturday.
- Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that he's "not concerned" about Wajngarten's diagnosis.
- Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) both said they will enter self-quarantine after being at Mar-a-Lago with the Brazilian delegation last weekend.
A far-right populist, Bolsonaro had dismissed the alarm around the virus as a "fantasy" spread by the media as recently as Wednesday.
- The White House said Wednesday that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence "had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time."
- According to CNN, Wajngarten was at dinner with Trump on Saturday and later attended a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News host who is now chair of the Trump campaign's finance committee. Several members of the Trump family attended, including the president.
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