⁍ Trump’s contention he was no longer contagious was not yet backed up by solid evidence from his doctors.

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⁍ The White House has refused to say when his last negative test for the virus was and, as a result, it is unclear how long he has been positive.

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⁍ The Republican president is under pressure to actively campaign again to try to inject new energy into his reelection bid.

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– “I’m back because I’m a perfect physical specimen,” President Trump told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo in his first interview since his diagnosis with the deadly coronavirus last week. “I’m feeling good, really good,” he said, though he added that he was still on steroids and that he had stopped taking “most therapeutics” for the virus but was still on steroids, Reuters reports. “I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise,” Trump said in a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, adding that his use of an experimental medication had allowed him to experience first-hand how effective it could be. He vowed to make the treatment available free of charge, but did not say how he would do that or who would pay the cost of the treatments. Trump has faced criticism for underestimating the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans and thrown millions out of work. Even since revealing his own illness on Friday, Trump has downplayed the respiratory disease’s dangers and been censured by social media platforms for spreading misinformation about it. Despite his illness, Trump has been looking for ways to get his election message out and cut into Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s lead in battleground states. Aides said Trump was impatient to return to campaigning and insistent on going ahead with the second presidential debate in Miami, although Biden said on Tuesday he would not participate if Trump was not virus-free.