Yanks love nukes.
President of the United States Donald Trump
tested positive for coronavirus, along with his wife Melania, in the early hours of Friday morning.
The commander-in-chief tweeted the news, writing: "Tonight [Melania] and I tested positive for Covid-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!"
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1311892190680014849
Both Trump and the First Lady are said to be in a good condition. How long that's the case in relation to the president remains to be seen. Trump is 74-years-old, and also overweight, placing him in a high-risk category.
This is the key to how one eagle-eyed Twitter user, Tim Hogan, predicted the president's diagnosis a full hour before a public statement was made.
In the US, whomever holds presidential office is also the head of the armed forces - the commander-in-chief. If that individual, whose finger normally hovers above the big red button, is incapacitated, other nations may see an opportunity to strike, be it with conventional weapons or a nuclear arsenal.
So, in the event that one of the world's few other nuclear powers, most likely Russia or China, decided to seize the initiative and conduct a nuclear first strike, targeting Washington DC and other key cities, America has a mitigation strategy. The E-6B Mercury.
The E-6B Mercury is a flying command centre, able to communicate with submarines around the world and, if DC was wiped out, coordinate retaliation and beckon on nuclear winter.
What's more, an aircraft of such strategic importance would not necessarily appear on open source flight tracking software like Flight Radar. But that's exactly what happened an hour or so before Trump announced his positive test result and Tim Hogan spotted it.
https://twitter.com/TimInHonolulu/status/1311885172862668801
The message to America's enemies is quite clear: whatever's happening to El Pres, don't think we won't bring about the end of human civilisation if you want to try it. F**k around and find out.
And an hour later, Hogan was vindicated.
https://twitter.com/TimInHonolulu/status/1311893057042706432
A statement released by the White House physician Sean Conley after Trump's positive test was confirmed said that both the president and First Lady "are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence".
"Rest assured I expect the President to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering," the statement read.
President Trump has long been a sceptic of Covid-19; even as recently as last week he told Americans that the virus "affects virtually nobody".
A second presidential debate between President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden is scheduled for 15 October in Miami. It is not yet clear how Trump's positive test result will affect this.
Other major world leaders have also tested positive for Coronavirus. UK prime minister Boris Johnson had a severe case of the virus, which ultimately required ICU treatment.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for Covid-19 in July.
