整个周末，总统唐纳德·特朗普他的助手们齐心协力表明，尽管与新冠肺炎作战，他仍在继续为美国人民工作。
为了表明特朗普正在迅速康复，白宫公布了三张照片，据称显示特朗普在沃尔特·里德国家军事医疗中心的总统套房“签署文件”。
但这些照片一直是关于它们是否是上演的严格审查的主题，一些人暗示它们相当于宣传。
在周六发布的第一张照片中，特朗普穿着蓝色西装外套和白色纽扣羽绒服，坐在圆桌旁，签署了一张纸。
在白宫发布的这张照片中，唐纳德·特朗普总统在马里兰州贝塞斯达的沃尔特·里德国家军事医疗中心的总统套房工作。2020年10月3日星期六，新冠肺炎检测呈阳性。
在第二张照片中，特朗普出现在不同的位置，穿着白色纽扣羽绒服——没有夹克——坐在会议室的一张长桌子的末端，浏览着一叠棕色文件夹。
文件夹看起来和第一张照片中看到的一样。
2020年10月3日，美国马里兰州贝塞斯达的沃尔特·里德国家军事医学中心，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在冠状病毒疾病(新冠肺炎)检测呈阳性后在会议室接受治疗。
《气流》主编、记者乔恩·奥斯特勒(Jon Ostrower)首先暗示这些照片是分阶段拍摄的，他在推特上指出，由白宫拍摄但通过美联社分发的可交换图像文件格式或嵌入文件中的EXIF数据显示，它们仅相隔10分钟拍摄。
根据嵌入其中的EXIF数据，WH今晚发布的总统在沃尔特·里德工作的照片是在美国东部时间周六下午5:25:59和5:35:40间隔10分钟拍摄的@AP今晚白宫共享的电报。pic.twitter.com/EzeqIkGdf7
—乔恩·奥斯特勒(@乔恩·奥斯特勒)2020年10月4日
社交媒体上的其他人建议，一旦放大，第一张照片似乎显示特朗普使用夏普在一张白纸上签名。美国广播公司新闻放大了这张照片，并确认它似乎是一张空白的白纸。
2020年10月3日，在马里兰州贝塞斯达沃尔特·里德国家军事医疗中心的总统套房里，在白宫发布的一张照片中，唐纳德·特朗普总统在一张纸上写字时，可以看到他的手。
周日早上，“上演”这个词在推特上很流行。
白宫没有回应美国广播公司新闻的置评请求，但《新闻周刊》援引一名高级政府官员的话说，“文件不是空白的。在照片中，文件曝光过度，因为摄影师是为了总统的脸而曝光，而不是为了报纸。”据《新闻周刊》报道，这位官员没有对照片的时间发表评论。
总统的家人很快编造了周末令人困惑的故事，用照片证明特朗普正努力与女儿和高级顾问合作伊万卡·特朗普推特上称她的父亲为“无情的”，儿子埃里克·特朗普称他为“真正的战士”，“如果所有当选的官员都有这种职业道德就好了。”
“我们在周末看到的是本届政府行为模式的一部分，他们歪曲了向美国人民提供的关于危机或威胁的信息，以便符合这位总统的政治叙事，”美国广播公司新闻撰稿人约翰·科恩说，他是国土安全部前代理情报副部长。他称白宫在特朗普健康状况不明朗的情况下发布照片“类似于宣传”。
“这不是创造你自己的故事，”他说。
2020年10月5日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在马里兰州贝塞斯达的沃尔特·里德国家军事医学中心接受了冠状病毒疾病(新冠肺炎)的第四天治疗后，白宫医生肖恩·康利博士在医生的陪同下向媒体讲述了特朗普的健康状况。
人们还担心特朗普在两张照片中都没有戴任何面罩。
特朗普开始在推特上发布视频时，继续他的无面具信息。不清楚谁和特朗普在房间里帮助他制作视频，也不清楚他们是从什么距离拍摄的。
他发表了一个四分钟的演讲张贴周六晚上，在对他健康的持续困惑中，他谈到了他渴望回到竞选活动中，并说“我想我很快就会回来。”
社交媒体上的一些人猜测，咳嗽在视频中被删除了——因为剪辑似乎在1:04的时候跳了起来——尽管没有明确的证据支持这一理论。
科恩说:“社交媒体上有人质疑总统诊断的事实和白宫采取的行动，这一事实表明，在过去三年半的时间里，白宫在很大一部分美国公众中浪费了信誉。”“公众应该对政府的话有信心，但现在，情况并非如此。”
2020年10月5日，白宫附近出现交通标志，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在华盛顿冠状病毒疾病(新冠肺炎)检测呈阳性后，继续在沃尔特·里德国家军事医疗中心住院。
科恩还说，社交媒体上的混乱也为边缘分子和敌对国家的虚假信息运动和阴谋论打开了大门，他们试图在美国公众中制造不和和混乱。
“我们已经受到俄罗斯和其他国家的攻击，他们正在利用虚假信息制造不和，煽动暴力。他们肯定会用这个，”科恩说。
“这不是竞选活动。这不是他出去和人说话的机会。他能为国家做的最好的事情就是变得更好，”科恩补充道。
然后，特朗普在周日晚上的推特上宣布，他将进行一次非必要的旅行，以感谢在沃尔特·里德(Walter Reed)外等待的“爱国者”，这是最有争议的举动，直接无视疾病控制和预防中心(Center for疾控中心)的指导，即运送病人“出病房”应仅限于医疗必要的目的。
2020年10月4日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在马里兰州贝塞斯达接受新冠肺炎治疗后，他的支持者聚集在沃尔特·里德国家军事医疗中心外。
几位具有流行病学背景的医生表示，特朗普的乘车可能会使坐在他前面座位上的美国特勤局官员面临更大的感染病毒的风险。
2020年10月4日，马里兰州贝塞斯达沃尔特里德医疗中心外，一辆载有美国总统特朗普的汽车在车队中驶过支持者。
沃尔特·里德医院的一名主治医生周日在推特上称之为“政治戏剧”和“精神错乱”，并告诉美国广播公司的“早安美国”，特朗普将离开病房。
“作为一名医生，我们将我们做出的决定视为风险与收益的对比。我不知道这个政治噱头有什么好处，但我知道有什么风险。我担心的是，也许里面的特勤局特工不知道他们在那里面临的风险和真正的威胁是什么，”詹姆斯·菲利普斯说，他也是乔治·华盛顿大学急救医学系的灾难医学主任。
沃尔特·里德医院的主治医师詹姆斯·菲利普斯博士与@GMA关于总统车队在被诊断患有新冠肺炎病时对他车里的人构成的潜在威胁。pic.twitter.com/wNph9mXwDl
——早安美国(@GMA)2020年10月5日
菲利普斯说，因为特朗普的车是密封的，不会受到化学攻击，所以新冠肺炎病毒在车内传播的风险与在医疗程序之外传播的风险一样高。
科恩说，在发布信息时，安全应该是首要考虑的问题，但美国人民希望政府更加透明。
科恩说:“美国，尤其是在现代，与威权国家的区别在于，美国人民期望并要求其领导人提供准确的信息。”“令人担忧的是我们现在看到的情况:愿意向美国人民陈述一个错误的故事，不仅是关于流行病及其影响，而且是关于总统的健康。”
这张由白宫发布的讲义照片显示，2020年10月4日，在马里兰州贝塞斯达的沃尔特·里德国家军事医疗中心，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和他的参谋长(图中未显示)正在与美国副总统、国务卿和参谋长联席会议主席通电话。
前中情局高级特工达雷尔·布洛克(Darrell Blocker)同意科恩的观点，即美国人民习惯于在危机中了解其领导人的健康状况，并表示，可以将目前对特朗普健康状况的困惑与朝鲜、委内瑞拉、古巴和俄罗斯等威权统治下的国家在领导人生病时如何在历史上误导公众进行比较。
“这当然不是我们作为美国民主国家的经历，”布洛克说。“现在我们有了一位医生，他显然不太擅长演讲，而且继续混淆和混淆本应严格意义上的医学问题，既没有给政府也没有给公众带来任何公正。”
他补充道:“这与其他威权领导人想让民众冷静下来或愚弄他们，让他们认为一切都没问题的想法有相似之处。”他在年初提出了金正恩健康背后的谜团。“但如果这是一个真正的医学问题，时间会证明一切。”
Trump hospital photos and videos looked like propaganda, critics say
Throughout the weekend, PresidentDonald Trumpand his aides made a concerted effort to show he was continuing to work for the American people -- despite fighting COVID-19.
To suggest Trump was rapidly recovering, the White House released three photos it said showed Trump "signing documents" in the presidential suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
But the photos have been the subject of intense scrutiny about whether they were staged, with some suggesting they amounted to propaganda.
In the first photo released Saturday, Trump is dressed in a blue suit jacket and white button down shirt, seated at a round table and signing a piece of paper.
In the second, Trump is seen in a different location, dressed in a white button down shirt -- with no jacket -- seated at the end of a long table in a conference-style room and looking through a stack of brown folders.
The folders appear to be the same as the ones seen in the first photo.
U.S. President Donald Trump works in a conference room while receiving treatment after testing positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. October 3, 2020.
Journalist Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of The Air Current, first suggested the photos were staged, noting on Twitter that exchangeable image file format or EXIF data embedded in the files, taken by the White House but distributed through The Associated Press, showed they were taken just 10 minutes apart.
The photos released by the WH tonight of the president working at Walter Reed were taken 10 minutes apart at 5:25:59 pm and 5:35:40 pm ET Saturday, according to the EXIF data embedded in both@APwire postings that were shared by the White House this evening.pic.twitter.com/EzeqIkGdf7
— Jon Ostrower (@jonostrower)October 4, 2020
Others on social media suggested that once zoomed in on, the first photo appears to show Trump using a Sharpie to sign his name on a blank sheet of paper. ABC News zoomed in on the photo and confirmed it appeared to be a blank white sheet of paper.
In a detail from a photo released by the White House, President Donald Trump's hands are seen as he writes on a piece of paper in the Presidential Suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Oct. 3, 2020.
Early Sunday morning, the word "staged" was trending on Twitter.
The White House did not respond to an ABC News request for comment but Newsweek cited a senior administration official as saying, "The documents were not blank. In the photograph, the documents were overexposed because the photographer was exposing for the President's face, rather than the paper." The official did not comment on the timing of the photos, Newsweek reported.
The president's family was quick to spin the weekend's confusing narrative, using the photos as proof that Trump was hard at work with daughter and senior adviserIvanka Trumpcalling her father "RELENTLESS" and son Eric Trump calling him a "true warrior," tweeting, "If only all elected officials had this work ethic."
"What we saw over the weekend is part of a pattern of behavior by this administration where they have distorted the information provided to the American people about a crisis or a threat, so that it fits the political narrative of this president," said ABC News Contributor John Cohen, a former acting undersecretary for intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security. He called the White House releasing photos while the state of Trump's health was unclear "akin to propaganda."
"This isn't about creating your own narrative," he said.
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White House physician Dr. Sean Conley is flanked by doctors as he speaks to the media about President Donald Trump's health after the president underwent a fourth day of treatment for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., October 5, 2020.
There was also concern about Trump not wearing any sort of face mask in either photo.
Trump continued his maskless messages when he began releasing videos on Twitter. It's unclear who was in the room with Trump to help him make the videos or what distance they were shot from.
He delivered a four-minute addresspostedto Twitter Saturday evening, amid continued confusion over his health, in which he spoke about his eagerness to get back to the campaign trail and said that "I think I'll be back soon."
Some on social media speculated a cough was edited out in the video -- as the clip seems to jump at the 1:04 mark -- though there is no clear evidence to support that theory.
"The fact that you have people on social media questioning the facts around the president's diagnosis and the actions being taken by this White House shows that this White House has squandered its credibility over the last three and a half years with a large subset of the American public," Cohen said. "The public should have confidence in the words of the government and right now, that's just not the case."
A traffic sign is seen near the White House Oct. 5, 2020, as President Donald Trump continues hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Washington.
Cohen also said the confusion on social media has also opened the door for disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories by fringe elements and hostile nations who seek to sow discord and chaos amongst the American public.
"We're already under attack by Russia and others who are using disinformation to sow discord and incite violence. They certainly are going to use this," Cohen said.
"This isn't a campaign event. This isn't an opportunity for him to go out and talk to people. The best thing he can do for the country is to get better," Cohen added.
Then, in the most controversial move -- in direct defiance to Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that transporting a patient "outside of their room should be limited to medically essential purposes" -- Trump announced on Twitter Sunday evening he was taking a non-essential trip to thank the "patriots" waiting outside Walter Reed.
Supporters of President Donald Trump gather outside of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after the President was admitted for treatment of COVID-19, Oct. 4, 2020, in Bethesda, Maryland.
Several doctors with backgrounds in epidemiology said Trump's car ride likely put U.S. Secret Service officers in the seat in front of him at greater risk of contracting the virus.
A car with US President Trump drives past supporters in a motorcade outside of Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on October 4, 2020.
An attending physician at Walter Reed called it "political theater" and "insanity" on Twitter Sunday and told ABC's "Good Morning America" that Trump would leave his hospital room.
"As a physician, we look at the decisions we make as risks versus benefits. I don't know what the benefits of this political stunt were, but I do know what the risks were. And my concern is that perhaps the Secret Service agents that were inside don't know the risks they were up against there and what the real threats were," said James Phillips, who is also the chief of disaster medicine at the George Washington University Department of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. James Phillips, attending physician at Walter Reed hospital, talks to@GMAabout the potential threat the president's motorcade ride while diagnosed with COVID-19 posed to the people who were in his car.pic.twitter.com/wNph9mXwDl
— Good Morning America (@GMA)October 5, 2020
Because Trump's vehicle is hermetically sealed against chemical attack, the risk of COVID-19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures, according to Phillips.
Cohen said security should be the number one concern when releasing information, but the American people expect more transparency in its government.
"What's separated the United States, especially in modern times, from authoritarian countries is that the American people expect and demand to be provided accurate information from its leaders," Cohen said. "What's concerning is what we're seeing now: The willingness to present a false narrative to the American people, not only about the pandemic and its implications, but also on the health of the president."
This handout photo released by the White House shows US President Donald Trump and his Chief of Staff (not pictured) participating in a phone call with the US Vice President, Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on October 4, 2020, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Darrell Blocker, a former senior CIA operative, agreed with Cohen that the American people are accustomed to being informed on the health of its leader in a crisis, and said comparisons can be made between the current confusion over Trump's health and how countries under authoritarian rule including North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba and Russia have historically misled the public when leaders have fallen ill.
"It is certainly something that is not our experience as an American democracy," Blocker said. "Now we have a doctor, who is clearly not very good at the podium, and is not doing either the administration or the public any justice by continuing to obfuscate and confuse what should just be strictly a medical issue."
"There are parallels to other authoritarian leaders who have wanted to calm or fool their people into thinking that everything's okay," he added, raising the mystery behind Kim Jong Un's health at the start of the year. "But if it's a true medical issue, time will tell."
