The White House was not taking good precautions to protect President Donald Trump from contracting COVID-19, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Monday.
"They weren’t modeling good precautions, but equally important, they weren’t taking good precautions to protect the president, in my view," Gottlieb, now a CNBC contributor, said on “Squawk Box." "They both need to model better precautions for the nation so that people see a better example being set by our leaders."
Trump announced his diagnosis early Friday and remains under treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“The president didn’t need to get infected. I’m pretty certain the president didn’t want to get infected. He was not taking reckless risks, notwithstanding the things he said when he was out and notwithstanding some people’s perceptions,” Gottlieb contended. “The president didn’t want to get COVID, from everything I can glean, and thought he was being protected based on the testing that was in place around him.”
Gottlieb also called out the strategy of relying on tests to prevent coronavirus, because the testing strategy that is in place at the White House has shortcomings. The administration is relying on a rapid turnaround test for staff and visitors, but that wasn't enough, he said.
“If they were relying on testing alone to keep the virus out of the West Wing and out of the White House compound, they needed a zero-fail testing regime. They didn’t have it,” said Gottlieb. “It was told to people in the White House that there were problems with the way they were using testing as a tool to try and prevent the virus from getting in the White House compound, and in and around the president, and they didn’t really step that up."
Masks and social distancing are also vital to the prevention of coronavirus, but the president has held several campaign rallies attended by crowds of people, few of whom are wearing masks.
Several people in Trump's inner circle have tested positive for the coronavirus after his White House Rose Garden ceremony to officially announce his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. Many of those at the event were not wearing masks.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.