Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message wishing President Trump and first lady Melania Trump a speedy recovery following their coronavirus diagnoses, The Independent reported.
“My wife, Peng Liyuan, and I express our sympathies to you and your wife and wish you a fast recovery,” the message from Xi stated, according to the website for China’s state TV.
The message echoes a similar statement from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Friday.
However, the official statement from Beijing contrasts Chinese state media — which is controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party — which on Friday mocked the U.S. leader following his positive COVID-19 test.
Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Global Times propaganda outlet, wrote in a since-deleted tweet that the first couple “paid the price for [Trump’s] gamble to play down the COVID-19.”
“The news shows the severity of the US’ pandemic situation. It will impose a negative impact on the image of Trump and the US, and may also negatively affect his reelection,” the editor wrote.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have reached an all-time high in recent months. Trump has blamed China for the spread of the pandemic, as the first cases appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
He has questioned if the country intentionally allowed it to spread and blamed Beijing and the World Health Organization (WHO) for early missteps and a lack of communication.
“As we pursue this bright future, we must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world: China,” Trump said last month during recorded remarks to the United Nations General Assembly.
The Trumps announced their diagnoses in the early hours of Friday morning, joining the more than 7.2 million people in the United States who have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. More than 207,000 have died while over 2.8 million have recovered, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The announcement came hours after news broke that White House adviser and top aide to the president Hope Hicks tested positive for the disease. Both Hicks and the president had been together on Air Force One in Cleveland for the presidential debate Tuesday as well as a campaign rally in Minnesota on Wednesday.
Hours after his diagnosis, Trump traveled to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he will remain “for the next few days.”
The White House has said Trump’s symptoms are mild and that he is in good spirits.
“President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day. Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. “President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the First Lady.”
The first lady remains at the White House and has “only a mild cough and headache,” the White House physician said.