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Donald Trump raised eyebrows after giving a garbled update on his latest coronavirus test result. Speaking outside the White House on Thursday, the President of the United States said: ‘I tested very positively in another sense so-this morning. Yeah. I tested positively toward negative, right. So. I tested perfectly this morning. Meaning I tested negative.’

President Trump also appeared to be confused about ‘per capita’ Covid-19 figures, which establish how many tests, diagnoses or deaths have been recorded proportionate to a county, state or country’s population. He continued: ‘When you say per capita, there’s many per capitas. Is this like per capita relative to what?’

Trump dropped his latest clangers as he boarded a helicopter in Washington DC to begin a trip to Detroit, where he is set to visit the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company later on Thursday afternoon. The president has spent recent days embroiled in a row over his refusal to wear a face mask, with Ford making a special exception to its mandatory face masks rule so Trump can visit.

The president, Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House staffers have daily Covid-19 tests which give a result within 15 minutes.

That intensive testing program has been set up to try and protect Trump’s administration after it was hit by a wave of high-profile coronavirus diagnoses.

A fortnight ago, an unnamed valet who works closely with the president and his family tested positive for the virus, with Trump said to be ‘upset’ at the news.

The next day, Vice President Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller was also diagnosed with the disease.

Both members of staff are now recovering.

Photo of Donald Trump
Donald Trump sparked confusion on Thursday after telling reporters that he had ‘tested positively towards negative’ for coronavirus (Picture: AP)

That saw Pence self-isolate in his Washington DC resident until it was clear that he had not developed Covid-19 himself.

The disease is now known to have infected almost 1.6 million Americans, and killed over 93,000.

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