Donald Trump Has COVID-19: What Does This Mean For America and the World?

On Friday, October 2nd, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, reported that he had tested positive for Covid-19. Since then, the President’s condition improved to where his doctors have allowed him to leave Walter Reed Hospital and return to the White house. At age 74, the President is considered high risk for the virus’s health complications, and while things seem to be heading in a positive direction for his recovery, if his health were to take a turn for the worse, who would lead the country? 

Of the first 18 people in the current presidential line of succession, 17 of them are Republicans and one of them is a Democrat. In the case of death/inability for the President to function in office, the next President would be the Vice President, Mike Pence. If Pence were unable to perform his duties, Nancy Pelosi, the lone Democrat in the line of succession, would become the President. If she were to become President, the country would see a dramatic change at the top, without even having an election. Right now, the United States has a government that is controlled by the Republican party. Democrats control the House of Representatives, but Republicans control the Senate and the Presidency. If Pelosi were to become President, the country’s political power would shift parties, and the country would likely head in an entirely different direction with taxes, immigration, and many other significant policies. Pelosi has opposed almost every decision made by Trump since he entered office. It is clear that they have opposing views, and if Pelosi were to take over, she would take a different route in leading the country. In the country’s history, the Speaker of the House has never become President, but it nearly happened once. In the 1970s, while Nixon was President, Spiro Agnew resigned as Vice President of the United States due to the Watergate scandal. Gerald Ford was appointed as the new Vice President. After this, President Nixon also resigned due to the Watergate Scandal. Ford effectively became the first-ever appointed President of the United States. If Nixon had not selected Gerald Ford to be his new Vice President before he resigned, Democrat Carl Albert would have become President. That is how close the country came to the Speaker of the House becoming President of the United States. It takes nothing short of a widely impactful scandal or incident to bring that possibility closer to reality.

It is always important for us to think about the drastic changes that can happen to our country. The President and the Vice President are in close proximity to each other very frequently, and because of this, it seemed almost certain that the Vice President would be diagnosed as well. It was shocking for most Americans to learn that Pence did not test positive. Still, if he had, Pence and Trump are both old enough to be considered high risk for the virus’s complications. If things happened just slightly differently, the Presidency could have seen a drastic change in power until one of them had recovered.

The President’s illness has also affected voters. His ailment has provoked two very different reactions; him being viewed as strong or being viewed as careless. Many of his supporters have viewed his Covid-19 diagnosis as him showing that he is a strong President while proving that Covid-19 should not dominate the lives of those who are not at risk. This is because the President was still able to perform his presidential duties from the hospital and also seemed to mostly recover from the virus in a mere 4-5 days. The Covid-19 diagnosis also provoked a different reaction. Trump’s opposition has seen the illness as a result of careless exposure to many people while taking very few precautionary measures, as well as proof that the virus is far more widespread and severe than the President has acknowledged. The President’s diagnosis can legitimately make or break the election; it just all depends on which reaction most voters have.

The United States has measures to ensure that America is never without a leader. Still, as Americans, and as citizens of the world, we need to realize the fragile game of politics. Throughout American history, eight presidents have died while in office,  almost one death out of every five Presidents. While a death while in office has not happened since 1963, both the President and Vice President may be unable to perform their duties simultaneously. One wrong turn is all it takes to skew the trajectory of the country dramatically.