Donald Trump had a national security briefing over the phone on Sunday and sounded 'fine' as he spoke from his Walter Reed hospital suite, officials say.
The president was told that foreign nations are monitoring his health closely but have yet to make any aggressive moves to take advantage of his sickness, according to Fox News.
Officials on the call said there was nothing unusual about Trump's demeanor or mental state as he spoke by video on a secure line.
The Walter Reed suite is equipped to allow the president to continue his official duties while he receives treatment for coronavirus, although doctors have floated the possibility of Trump returning to the White House as early as today.
Donald Trump held a briefing from the Walter Reed hospital (where he is pictured on Sunday) in which officials updated him on national security while he battles the coronavirus
Vice President Mike Pence and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows were among those on the national security call.
Defense secretary Mark Esper and national security advisor Robert O'Brien also took part in Sunday's video-conference.
Pence, the first in line to the presidency, has tested negative for the coronavirus and is free to go about his duties as normal, his doctor said on Friday.
The Constitution's 25th Amendment would allow Pence to assume power temporarily if Trump is incapacitated, but the White House has sought to make clear that Trump is still in charge.
The president today tried to bring the public's attention back to the election by tweeting a series of slogans and touting the success of the stock market.
The 'around-the-world' briefing came with foreign capitals keeping a close eye on Trump's health just weeks before the November 3 election.
The president was told there were no strange military movements resulting from his illness, after world leaders from UK prime minister Boris Johnson to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un sent Trump their good wishes.
Kim said he 'sincerely hopes' that the president and first lady will recover from the disease, in a statement carried by North Korean official media.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who has sparred with Trump on a host of issues including the pandemic, also wished Trump well for a speedy recovery.
Vice President Mike Pence, who is first in line to the presidency, was among the officials on the national security call with Trump on Sunday
Trump caused controversy on Sunday by waving to supporters from a motorcade despite being infectious
Presidents typically receive a daily intelligence briefing including contributions from the CIA and other members of the intelligence community.
The document has been provided to presidents in some form since Harry Truman occupied the White House.
The briefings came to attention earlier this year when the White House said Trump had never been told about intelligence that Russia put a bounty on US soldiers.
Trump received Sunday's briefing from the Maryland hospital where he was airlifted on Friday, less than 24 hours after revealing he had tested positive for Covid-19.
Trump's medical team said on Sunday that the president 'continued to improve' two days after he was dramatically airlifted from the White House.
White House physician Sean Conley also acknowledged for the first time that Trump had been given oxygen after a 'rapid progression' of his illness.
Confusion has reigned over mixed messages from the White House after Conley's upbeat assessment on Saturday was soon followed by another claim that Trump's condition was 'very concerning'.
Medics also appeared to contradict the White House timeline about when Trump was infected, before hastily backtracking.
Trump, 74, said in a Sunday video that he had 'learned a lot about Covid' by 'really going to school' as he battled the virus.
The president then caused further controversy by briefly leaving the hospital and waving to supporters from a bulletproof car.
Trump supporters, some of them wearing masks, hold up flags as they rally outside the Walter Reed Medical Center in support of the president
Health experts took to the airwaves and social media to criticize the 'stunt,' which they said demonstrated that he had learned nothing at all.
'Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential 'drive-by' just now has to be quarantined for 14 days,' said James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University.
'They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.'
White House spokesman Judd Deere said 'appropriate' precautions had been taken to protect Trump and his support staff, including protective gear.
'The movement was cleared by the medical team as safe to do,' he added.
But Zeke Emanuel, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, described the appearance as 'shameful.'
'Making his Secret Service agents drive with a Covid-19 patient, with windows up no less, put them needlessly at risk for infection. And for what? A PR stunt,' he said.
As well as oxygen, Trump has been treated with dexamethasone, a steroid used to treat inflammation in other diseases.
On Saturday, the president was started on a five-day course of intravenous antiviral drug remdesivir, which is sold by Gilead Sciences.
Doctors have said that both of these drugs makes sense early in the course of illness to prevent it from getting worse, but dexamethasone is generally reserved for people whose condition has deteriorated.
'We give dexamethasone to patients who require supplemental oxygen,' said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University.
'The biggest question would be is there a risk of deterioration, or is he on a good trajectory?' Dr. Adalja said.
