US President Donald Trump could hit the campaign trail again this weekend if he tests negative for coronavirus.
Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity in a Thursday night telephone interview he was hoping to a organise a rally in Florida on Saturday evening "if we have enough time to put it together," and another in Pennsylvania - Democratic candidate Joe Biden's home state - on Sunday.
"We want to do a rally probably in Florida on Saturday night. I might come back and do one in Pennsylvania the following night," he said. "It's incredible what's going on. I feel so good."
Trump told Hannity he would be tested for the virus on Friday, but he had already been examined by many medics from both Walter Reed Medical Centre and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
The president said he had "so many doctors looking over me, I'm the most analysed person in the world right now," adding that "I think they're amazed at how quickly this went, frankly."
At other points in the interview Trump was heard to cough briefly and speak hoarsely, leading many liberal media commentators to speculate that his condition was worse than he was letting on.
— CNN (@CNN) October 9, 2020
Also on Thursday, White House physician Sean Conley said that he expected Trump to be able to appear in public.
"Saturday will be day 10 since Thursday's diagnosis, and based on the trajectory of advanced diagnostics the team has been conducting, I fully anticipate the President's safe return to public engagements at that time," Conley wrote in a letter.
On Wednesday Trump rejected a proposal by the presidential debate commission to hold the remaining two face-offs with Joe Biden virtually by videolink, rather than in the same studio. The president called it "not acceptable" and accused the commission of trying to "protect" his opponent.
