Trump joins small group of world leaders who have tested positive for COVID-19

Deirdre Shesgreen and Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY
·6 min read

President Donald Trump, 74, and first lady Melania Trump, 50, tested positive for COVID-19, the president tweeted early Friday, just hours after Trump announced that Hope Hicks, one of his closest advisers, tested positive for the new coronavirus.

From Washington to Madrid, politicians across the globe have been exposed to the virus, and in some cases caught it. Here's our watch list of presidents, prime ministers and supreme leaders who have been tested or may be at risk for infection.

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Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko

Lukashenko, 66, claimed he contracted the new coronavirus in July but was asymptomatic. He has dismissed concerns about the virus as "psychosis" and recommended drinking vodka to stay healthy. Belarus is one of the few countries that has not taken any comprehensive measures against the virus. Lukashenko is accused of rigging a recent election and has cracked down hard on peaceful protesters.

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko listens to the head of the Investigative Committee Ivan Naskevich during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko listens to the head of the Investigative Committee Ivan Naskevich during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro

Bolsonaro, 65, tested positive for the new coronavirus in July after months of downplaying the virus. He said he had mild symptoms and continued working while he was sick. Bolsonaro often appears in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He said his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus and it is nothing more than a "little cold." After announcing his illness, Bolsonaro said he would be taking hydroxychloroquine, the unproven malaria drug that he and Trump have promoted as a treatment for COVID-19.

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In this March 7, 2020, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, center, stands with President Donald Trump, second from left, Vice President Mike Pence, right, and Brazil's Communications Director Fabio Wajngarten, behind Trump partially covered, during a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
In this March 7, 2020, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, center, stands with President Donald Trump, second from left, Vice President Mike Pence, right, and Brazil's Communications Director Fabio Wajngarten, behind Trump partially covered, during a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

In April, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the first major world leader to publicly acknowledge having COVID-19. Johnson started off with mild symptoms when he tested positive on March 27. He was rushed to the hospital on April 6 and not long after placed in intensive care. He recovered after spending several days in intensive care. Not long afterward, Johnson, 55, became a new father.

In this Thursday, April 2, 2020 handout photo provided by 10 Downing Street, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson claps outside 11 Downing Street to salute local heroes during Thursday's nationwide Clap for Carers NHS initiative to applaud workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic, in London.
In this Thursday, April 2, 2020 handout photo provided by 10 Downing Street, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson claps outside 11 Downing Street to salute local heroes during Thursday's nationwide Clap for Carers NHS initiative to applaud workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic, in London.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, 45, tested positive for the new coronavirus in March, according to Cameron Ahmad, communications director for the prime minister. She later recovered. Canada's leader, 48, self-isolated at home for 14 days with the couple's three young children but did not test positive. He was the first major world leader to go into quarantine.

This handout photo released from the Twitter account of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and taken on March 13, 2020, shows him in self-isolation working from home in Ottawa, Canada after his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, tested positive for coronavirus (COVI-19).
This handout photo released from the Twitter account of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and taken on March 13, 2020, shows him in self-isolation working from home in Ottawa, Canada after his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, tested positive for coronavirus (COVI-19).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, 66, tested negative for the new coronavirus, her spokesman said on March 23. The German leader went into self-isolation after she came into contact with a doctor who tested positive for coronavirus. German media reported Merkel had received an unrelated vaccination from the doctor.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a press statement on the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 at the Chancellery, in Berlin on March 22, 2020.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a press statement on the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 at the Chancellery, in Berlin on March 22, 2020.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández

Hernández, 51, tested positive in June and then spent more than two weeks in a hospital with pneumonia symptoms. His wife, Ana García, 52, and two of his aides also tested positive for the virus.

Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez, accompanied by his wife, Ana García, arrives for the swearing-in ceremony for Guatemala's new President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Theater in Guatemala City on Jan. 14, 2020.
Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez, accompanied by his wife, Ana García, arrives for the swearing-in ceremony for Guatemala's new President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Theater in Guatemala City on Jan. 14, 2020.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has self-isolated on at least two occasions after an aide and his health minister tested positive for the virus in March and April. His office said the 70-year-old leader remained in quarantine both times until he was cleared by Israel's Health Ministry and his personal doctor.

In this March. 1, 2020 file photo, people walk next to election campaign billboards showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Benny Gantz, left, in Bnei Brak, Israel.
In this March. 1, 2020 file photo, people walk next to election campaign billboards showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Benny Gantz, left, in Bnei Brak, Israel.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran’s utmost authority for all domestic and foreign policy has seen several of his closest aides diagnosed with coronavirus. It's not known whether Khamenei, 81, and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, 71, have ever tested positive. But more than 10% of Iran's lawmakers have fallen ill with the disease and it has also not spared top officials, including its senior vice-president, Cabinet ministers, Revolutionary Guard members and health ministry officials. Several lawmakers have died.

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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte

At one point, Italy was one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe. At least two politicians have publicly disclosed positive infections: Nicola Zingaretti, 54, the leader of the country’s Democratic Party, and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 84. There's no indication Italy's prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, 56, has contracted the disease.

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People wear protective mask just after disembarking from a ferry boat, in Venice, Monday, April 6, 2020. The government is demanding Italians stay home and not take the leveling off of new coronavirus infections as a sign the emergency is over, following evidence that more and more Italians are relaxing restrictions the west's first and most extreme nationwide lockdown and production shutdown.

Powerful chief of staff to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari

Abba Kyari, 67, died from complications related to coronavirus on April 17. Kyari was the trusted chief of staff to President Buhari, 77, and widely viewed as one of the most powerful people in Africa’s largest economy. It is not known if Buhari has been tested.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is seen after a meeting in Bamako on July 23, 2020.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is seen after a meeting in Bamako on July 23, 2020.

Prince Albert II of Monaco

Albert, 62, tested positive in March, making him the first reigning monarch to publicly announce a diagnosis for the disease. He later recovered. Britain's Prince Charles, the 71-year-old son of Queen Elizabeth II, also fell ill with the virus, in March. He said he experienced only mild symptoms.

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Prince Albert II of Monaco speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday Sept. 24, 2020, at U.N. headquarters, in New York.
Prince Albert II of Monaco speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday Sept. 24, 2020, at U.N. headquarters, in New York.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin

Mishustin, 54, confirmed he was infected with coronavirus on May 1. He later recovered. Mishustin's prime minister role is considerably less powerful than Russian President Vladimir Putin's. Putin, 67, has praised a coronavirus vaccine that Russia approved for use earlier this month as effective and safe despite international skepticism because the vaccine has only been studied for two months in a few dozen people.

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Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on May 19, 2020.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on May 19, 2020.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un

There are no officially confirmed coronavirus cases in North Korea. This is not because there aren't any but because the secretive nation has resisted calls to share its public health information. When Kim Jong Un, 36, disappeared from public view earlier this year for more than two weeks, there was speculation he could be hiding from the virus.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on April 11 in Pyongyang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on April 11 in Pyongyang.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez

The wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, 48, tested positive for the new coronavirus, Spain's government announced on March 15. Begoña Gómez, 45, has since recovered.

Two members of Sanchez’s cabinet, the minister of equality and the minister of regional affairs, have also tested positive. Other members of the cabinet had tested negative.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump joins small group of world leaders who caught COVID-19