Confusion over Trump’s health raises concerns about national security; Nagorno-Karabakh violence continues; Pope Francis says market capitalism has failed
US President Donald Trump gives the thumbs up sign as he rides in the presidential SUV with two Secret Service agents as they drive past the front of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he is being treated for coronavirus disease, Oct. 4, 2020.
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President Donald Trump on Monday began his fourth day at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he is being treated for COVID-19. His condition remains unclear, though officials said he is anxious to return to the White House in an effort to show strength and could be released as early as Monday.
Trump disregarded precautions meant to contain the deadly virus on Sunday and ventured out — while contagious — to wave to supporters from a black SUV with the windows rolled up and Secret Service agents inside. Doctors have revealed that his blood oxygen level dropped suddenly twice in recent days and he’s receiving a steroid treatment, dexamethasone, typically only recommended for the very sick.
It was a weekend where confusion about Trump’s health remained the subject of intense scrutiny as it could imperil the leadership of the US government and it potentially threatens national security. Some critics suggest that US adversaries including Russia, China and Iran could try and exploit the uncertainty in Washington. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis put the US in a “vulnerable position.” And, the US military is actively working to reassure the public that it was business as usual at the Pentagon.
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Missile strikes and violent fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh continued in the mountainous Caucasus region on Monday. Both sides continue accusing each other of launching attacks and observers are concerned that the conflict could spiral into a bigger regional war.
And Pope Francis said on Sunday in a new document titled “Fratelli Tutti,” that the coronavirus pandemic has shown that market capitalism has failed and that the world needs a new type of politics that promotes dialogue and solidarity and rejects war at all costs.
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