White House releases new photos of Donald Trump during his hospital stay to treat COVID-19

The White House has released two new photos of Donald Trump inside the Washington medical facility where he is being treated for coronavirus.

Framed by the US flag and America's presidential flag, the US president is photographed sitting behind a desk in a suit in a conference room while reportedly on a phone call.

In a statement from the White House, Mr Trump is said to be on a call with Vice President Mike Pence, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley is also said to be on the call.

Although not shown in the photos, the White House said Mr Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is also in the room at the time of the call.

Mr Pence appeared to confirm there have been ongoing discussions with Mr Trump and other high-profile White House insiders in a tweet.

"WH Task Force met today. Working around the clock to expand testing, PPE, therapeutics and expect to have a vaccine by end of 2020," he tweeted yesterday.

"Grateful for the prayers for President Donald Trump, FLOTUS and every American family dealing with COVID-19. We will get through this together."

READ MORE: What we know, and don't know about Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis

Mr Pence's Twitter account has regularly retweeted Mr Trump's tweets and White House tweets since Mr Trump took ill over the weekend.

Prior to that, his last retweet was on October 2 where he retweeted the White House's post about Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

The photos of Mr Trump were released just hours after he made his first public appearance since being admitted to Water Reed National Military Medical Centre on Saturday.

He surprised well-wishers and anti-Trump protesters outside the hospital with a drive-by in the back of a Secret Service vehicle while wearing a face mask.

At least one doctor from the hospital was unhappy with Mr Trump's shock move, alleging he had put lives at risk for "political theatre".

The White House and Mr Trump have posted a number of photos of him appearing to be working while he is treated at the facility.

A number of official videos from the US president have also been published to his social media during his hospital stay.

Mr Trump's doctors said that even though the president has had at least two concerning drops in oxygen levels, they are hoping he could be discharged as early as tomorrow from Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre.

Dr Conley and other doctors involved in the president's care offered some information about the president's condition and the treatments that he is receiving - but there were still significant gaps that made it hard to decipher the full picture.