Balancing Health and Perception

On Saturday morning, the doctors treating President Trump for the coronavirus held a news conference outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center — a show of strength, aimed at reassuring the American public that he was in capable hands.

But instead of allaying concern, it raised questions, casting doubt on the timeline of the president’s illness and the seriousness of his condition.

We speak to Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker, White House correspondents for The Times, about the efforts to control the narrative, and pick through what is known about the president’s condition a month before the election.

Guest:Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker, White House correspondents for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The president made a surprise outing from the hospital in an effort to show his improvement, but the murky and shifting narrative of his illness was rewritten again with grim new details.
• Dr. Sean P. Conley, who acknowledged that he had misled the public about the president’s treatment, has lost credibility with some colleagues.
• We have a timeline of the president’s symptoms and treatment.

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