White House gave New Jersey officials list of 206 people at Trump’s Thursday fundraiser events

The White House provided New Jersey health officials with a list of at least 206 people who attended President Trump’s fundraiser events in Bedminster, N.J., last Thursday, officials said on Sunday. 

The New Jersey Department of Health said in a joint statement with the Somerset County Department of Health that it reached out to all of the individuals who attended the events hours before the president tested positive for COVID-19. 

The agencies said they received the list from the White House and the management of the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. 

The state health department made attendees “aware of possible exposure and recommend that they self-monitor for symptoms and quarantine if they were in close contact with the President and his staff.”

DOH has reached out to these individuals to make them aware of possible exposure and recommend that they self-monitor for symptoms and quarantine if they were in close contact with the President and his staff.

— NJDOH (@NJDeptofHealth) October 4, 2020

County health officials are conducting interviews with staff members at the golf club and analyzing how much contact each had with the president and his staff and “providing public health recommendations accordingly.” 

The statement notes that contact tracing is “ongoing,” and the majority of the club’s staff lives within Somerset County. New Jersey officials said they were told the federal government is also conducting contact tracing. 

The state and county health officials recommended attendees who want to get tested wait at least five to seven days after Thursday.

“While the risk is low, a negative test earlier than that time cannot definitively rule out that COVID-19 will not develop,” the joint statement said. 

The contact tracing process is ongoing.

Attendees that are seeking a test should consider waiting at least 5-7 days from the event. While the risk is low, a negative test earlier than that time cannot definitively rule out that COVID-19 will not develop.

— NJDOH (@NJDeptofHealth) October 4, 2020

But officials called on those “who are concerned that they were in close contact should quarantine for 14 days.” 

Those who are concerned that they were in close contact should quarantine for 14 days.

New Jersey officials have been informed that the federal government is also conducting contact tracing.

— NJDOH (@NJDeptofHealth) October 4, 2020

A list provided to The Washington Post on Saturday by the Republican National Committee (RNC) included 207 attendees at Trump’s golf club, with about two dozen in a small roundtable inside with the president. Several of the small roundtable members took pictures with Trump. 

The RNC distributed an email to attendees saying they should contact their doctors “if you or any of your loved ones is ill or develops a fever, shortness of breath, or other respiratory symptoms.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said on Friday that the state contact tracing process had begun and encouraged “everyone who attended” the Bedminster event “to take full precautions, including self-quarantining and getting tested.”

The president announced that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19 early Friday, and later that day, the president was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. 

Several other individuals who have recently been in contact with the president, have tested positive for COVID-19, including former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).