Trump coronavirus: How the US media is reporting president's COVID-19 diagnosis
From the New York Times and CNN to Fox News, Sky News takes a look at what the US media is saying about the president's illness.
Sunday 4 October 2020 11:16, UK
Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis features heavily in the US media, with many focusing on the confusing messages from the White House as they offer up analysis of what this means for the election.
Sky News looks at what the newspapers and TV channels in the US are saying about the president's situation.
The New York Times
Often on Mr Trump's hit list, the paper says there is "confusion and concern" over the president's health.
It says there have been conflicting accounts from his doctor, who said he is "improving", and his chief of staff who called his symptoms "very concerning".
The president is said to have been "infuriated" by the latter comments but his video message did little to quell uncertainty, The New York Times said.
The paper also carries an opinion piece saying Mr Trump's illness "is yet another dividing line in the Trump era".
It says a sick leader would usually see people from all over the political spectrum rallying behind them, but Mr Trump has made the pandemic so political that his illness has created further divisions.
The Washington Post
The paper leads on the "confusing and incomplete answers" about the president's health from the White House.
It also says the White House is showing "little effort" to contact trace the hundreds of people potentially exposed to the president before his coronavirus diagnosis.
Local officials from areas he held events in the days leading up to his positive test have not heard from the White House, it reports.
The paper also carries quotes from some Republicans saying the party will pay the price for the "stupid" approach to the pandemic.
And it observes that Mr Trump's supporters have not changed their stance on the virus as hundreds of maskless supporters gathered for rallies across the country on Saturday.
"The president's many arguments about the coronavirus... seemed to inoculate many in the Trump camp against rethinking their approach to the virus," it said.
The Wall Street Journal
The daily's lead story highlights "a day of conflicting messages" over the president's condition.
It also looks at two other conservative leaders who have had COVID-19: Boris Johnson and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro.
The newspaper says they both made light of COVID-19 risks before falling ill themselves - but were left "unscathed politically" and it boosted them in the short-term.
However, it points out that neither of them was facing an election within a month of getting sick.
NBC News
NBC leads on a more neutral front, as the channel carries Mr Trump's video telling the nation he is feeling better.
It does pick up on the White House chief of staff's contrasting comments with the president's doctor.
And an opinion piece explores whether donors can sue the president as they attended his fundraising event in New Jersey after he found out close aide Hope Hicks tested positive. "Probably not", is the conclusion.
NBC also explores whether Mr Trump getting COVID-19 will be a turning point in a nation fatigued by the pandemic and its restrictions.
CNN
Mr Trump's least favourite news channel ("Not you, fake news") says his "alternate reality of COVID-19 crumbles".
It takes aim at recent events held by the White House, saying they "serve as a textbook example of how not to handle a deadly virus".
The channel focuses on the confusing statements over the president's health.
CNN's senior political analyst John Avlon says it is a "karmic irony" that the Trump campaign "deployed the politics of sickness" against Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.
And its senior digital producer in Hong Kong, James Griffiths, said China is nervous about Mr Trump's diagnosis over fears the president will now take an even harder line on China, who he blames for the pandemic.
Fox News
The president's favourite news channel has a more upbeat theme as it concentrates on the president saying he's feeling "much better", and his chief of staff Mark Meadows saying he is "very optimistic based on the current results".
It reports that the Trump election campaign is keeping at "full speed".
And it says debates are continuing and the delayed return of the Senate due to a handful of Republican senators testing positive will not slow down the confirmation hearings for Mr Trump's Supreme Court choice, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Fox also reports that Mr Trump's supporters lined up in front of the hospital where the president is staying to pray for him last night.
Saturday Night Live
The comedy sketch show was not going to miss out on the president's positive diagnosis, with host Chris Rock joking: "My heart goes out to COVID."
Alec Baldwin, playing Mr Trump, referenced the Rose Garden event held to announce the nomination of Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court, after which several people tested positive.
"It was so nice to welcome her with open arms and uncovered faces," Baldwin quipped.
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As part of a sketch mimicking the first presidential debate earlier in the week, Baldwin as Mr Trump said: "I've got my mask right here" as he pulled out a pink thong.
And when asked to stop pointing a laser pointer at Joe Biden, played by Jim Carrey, Baldwin said: "It's not a laser point. It's a wand that cures the COVID."