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Secret service agents slam Trump for exposing them to Covid-19 during car ride: 'He's not even pretending to care'

Security Service agents are authorized to decline requests that would put the president at risk, however, they cannot decline requests that would put their own lives in jeopardy

President Donald Trump's brief appearance in an SUV outside the Walter Reed Medical Center on Sunday evening, October 4, has been criticized by multiple secret Service agents who have accused the president of putting his protective detain in danger. One agent, on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post: "He’s not even pretending to care now. That should never have happened." President Trump, who was tested positive for the novel coronavirus last week, made a surprise visit to greet his supporters outside Walter Reed. 

While another agent who reportedly works in both the presidential and first family detail, while talking to CNN, said: "The frustration with how we're treated when it comes to decisions on this illness goes back before this though. We're not disposable." Reports state that Security Service agents are authorized to decline requests that would put the president at risk, however, they cannot decline requests that would put their own lives in jeopardy. 

One agent, however, dismissed the idea that Trump had been reckless. The agent told CNN: "I've watched some of the news today and it's ridiculous to say the president is trying to kill off his detail. He's unconventional, but we get the job done."

The White House also defended Trump's trip outside the hospital with spokesperson Judd Deere saying that "appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the president and all those supporting it."

The criticism from Trump's security detail comes hours after social media users took to Twitter to slam the president for putting his security detail in danger of contracting coronavirus too. "'I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school.' Then he took a ride in a hermetically sealed SUV with two Secret Service agents who now have to quarantine for 14 days because Trump needlessly put their lives in danger to stoke his ego and narcissism," one person wrote, quoting Trump's earlier remarks on how he learned about the coronavirus by going to the "real school." Another wrote: "I feel really sorry for the Secret Service agents & their families who Trump has put in grave danger…"

Even a physical attending President Trump at Walter Reed, Dr. James Phillips, slammed the Republican for his brief trip outside the hospital, writing: "Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential “drive-by” just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity."

Trump, during the trip, was seen wearing a black cloth face mask as he waved at his supporters through the window of his vehicle. Other security personnel could also be seen in the vehicle. The Republican leader was hospitalized on Friday, October 2, hours after the White House announced that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus along with the First Lady Melania Trump, who is quarantining at the White House. Reports state that the first lady refused to visit the POTUS at Walter Reed in an effort to limit potentially exposing the secret service to the disease.