Trump says Pence spokeswoman tests positive for virus

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Friday Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence's spokeswoman and wife of senior aide Stephen Miller, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"She's a wonderful young woman, Katie. She tested very good for a long period of time and then all of a sudden today she tested positive," Trump said at the White House.

Trump said Miller has not come into contact with him, but "spent some time" with Pence who "tested negative."

"Mike knows about it, and Mike has done what he has to do," he said. "I think he is on an airplane going to some far away place. But you'll be able to ask him later on. They've taken all of the necessary precautions."

Miller's diagnosis is the second in as many days of a West Wing staffer who has tested positive.

The White House announced Thursday an unidentified personal valet who worked closely with Trump also tested positive.

Trump said he had "had very little contact with this person," noting that he has been tested twice since Wednesday and both tests were negative.

Valets are members of an elite military unit and often work very close to the president and the first family.

Trump received his first test in March and a second in April, both of which were negative. But the latest news reveals he is at risk of being exposed to the virus, which has infected more than 1.2 million nationwide.

More than 76,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the US, which remains the country hardest-hit by the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.