Hope Hicks has tested positive for coronavirus after traveling with Trump on Air Force One

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President Donald Trump says he and first lady Melania Trump are awaiting their own test results after top aide Hope Hicks tested positive for COVID-19.

‘Whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know,’ Trump said during a call-in interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity on Thursday night. ‘I just went for a test and we’ll see what happens.’

Trump made the comments following news that Hicks, one his closest aides, tested positive for the coronavirus after spending time in close proximity to him this week. 

Hicks, 31, who serves as counselor to the president and also traveled with him to a Wednesday rally, tested positive Thursday, according to an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private health information. 

She is the closest aide to Trump to test positive so far. She previously served as White House communications director and re-joined the administration this year ahead of the election. There is no indication the president has the virus. 

Hicks traveled with the president multiple times this week, including on Marine One, the presidential helicopter, for the Minnesota rally Wednesday, and aboard Air Force One to Tuesday night’s first presidential debate in Cleveland. 

She was spotted getting off Air Force One in Cleveland without her mask. 

Hicks also traveled with the president to a rally in Pennsylvania last Saurday where she was seen maskless and clapping to the Village People’s YMCA. 

The White House did not immediately respond to multiple questions about the last time Trump was tested and whether he and other staffers who spent time with Hicks in recent days will be asked to quarantine. 

Trump described the 31-year-old Hicks as a ‘very warm person’ and suggested she got close to supporters and contracted the virus

‘She’s fantastic and she’s done a great job,’ Trump said. ‘But it’s very, very hard when you are with people from the military and from law enforcement and they come over to you and they, 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,’ the president added.

Trump also said he was ‘surprised’ to hear that Hicks tested positive. 

‘She wears a mask a lot, but she tested positive,’ the president said.

Hicks becomes the latest in Trump’s circle to contract the virus after National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and White House coronavirus task force spokeswoman Katie Miller. 

White House spokesman Judd Deere said: ‘The president takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously.

‘White House Operations collaborates with the physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting Covid-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible, both on complex and when the president is traveling.’

Deere did not mention Hicks by name. 

Hicks was seen Tuesday in a car without her mask with White House senior adviser Stephen Miller and campaign adviser Jason Miller. 

She is said to have worn a mask when on Marine One with Trump. 

Her positive test was first reported by Bloomberg News. 

Hicks joined 20 to 30 aides and family members, including the president’s son Don. Jr, on board Air Force One Tuesday. 

Multiple White House staffers have tested positive for the virus, including Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, and one of the president’s personal valets.

After earlier positive cases close to the president, the White House instituted a daily testing regimen for the president’s senior aides. Others who will be in close proximity to the president and vice president, including reporters, are also tested every day. 

Hicks is understood to be experiencing symptoms of the disease.  

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 quarantine for 14 days, White House staffers are considered essential workers. 

CDC’s guidelines for exposed essential workers allows them to return to work if they take precautions, including taking their temperature before going into work, wearing a mask at all times and practicing social distancing.

Trump, the White House and his campaign have flouted other CDC guidelines and recommendations from public health officials, and largely refused to wear masks or practice social distancing.