A week after we learned of Trump’s covid-19 diagnosis, why don’t we know more?

For months, President Trump avoided the novel coronavirus. He did this even without taking basic steps to prevent the virus’s spread, like wearing masks and staying away from large indoor crowds.

But, last week, that changed. 

Trump told the American people via tweet very early Friday morning, that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Later that day, he was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

On Monday, after he’d been administered a cocktail of steroids and therapeutic drugs, Trump left the hospital and returned to the White House.

Yet questions about the severity of the president’s condition remain.

Although Trump has tried to project the image of a president hard at work — posting videos and photos of himself clad in a full suit, repeatedly tweeting that he’s feeling great, declaring himself recovering — it’s hard for reporters and the public to know exactly where Trump’s health stands.

But how much should the public know when it comes to the health and the fitness of our commander in chief? What are the responsibilities of the president — and his doctors — to be transparent about his health information? And how does that transparency factor into potential moves to transfer power when a president is incapacitated?

Since Trump’s diagnosis, even as the president was hospitalized, Trump administration officials made it clear that there were no plans for Vice President Pence to assume even temporary authority as president.

Yet the events of the past week have raised questions about how that process works — who decides? What happens if a president can’t consent to a transfer of power? What if his ability to govern is in question?

On this episode of the“Can He Do That?” podcast, White House reporter David Nakamura discusses practices around the president’s health and safety and law professor and author of“Unable: The Law, Politics, and Limits of Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment” Brian Kalt explains how the 25th Amendment works.

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