Trump says ‘I'm better, maybe I'm immune’ as he leaves hospital to continue coronavirus treatment

Donald Trump has suggested that he may now be "immune" to Covid-19 after leaving hospital following three days of treatment for the disease.

The US leader travelled back to the White House on the presidential helicopter Marine One, after being discharged on Monday evening.

Following the short helicopter ride Mr Trump ascended to the Truman Balcony, where he was pictured removing his face covering and giving a thumbs-up and military-style salute.

He also recorded a video message, in which he speculated that he may now be immune to the virus.

"You're going to beat it [coronavirus]," he in an address to the American people.

"We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines, all developed recently."

He added: "We're going to be out front. As your leader, I had to do that. I knew there's danger to it, but I had to do it. I stood out front, and led."

The president also speculated: "Now I'm better, maybe I'm immune, I don't know".

Earlier, Mr Trump pumped his fist as he walked out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre towards a waiting SUV.

He is expected to continue his recovery at the White House, where he will be cared for around-the-clock by a team of doctors and nurses.

The US presidential election is just four weeks away and the president's diagnosis threatened to throw the campaign into chaos.

Even before he walked out of the doors of the hospital, he tweeted that he would be back on the campaign trail soon.

The president said that despite his illness the nation should not be afraid of the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.

"Feeling really good!" Mr Trump tweeted. "Don't be afraid of Covid. Don't let it dominate your life."

Questions remain over the seriousness of the president's illness after a weekend of conflicting statements, and over when he contracted the virus.

His discharge also raises new questions about how the administration will protect other officials.

Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced she had tested positive for the virus on Monday morning and was entering quarantine.

Mr Trump's doctor, Navy Commander Sean Conley, said the president would not be fully out of the woods for another week, but added that he had "met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria".

Dr Conley said the president could resume his normal schedule once "there is no evidence of live virus still present".

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, those with mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19 should isolate for at least 10 days.

Dr Conley repeatedly declined to share results of medical scans of Mr Trump's lungs, saying he was not at liberty to discuss the information because the president did not waive doctor-patient confidentiality on the subject.

Covid-19 has been known to cause significant damage to the lungs of some patients.

The physician also declined to share the date of Mr Trump's most recent negative test for the virus - a critical point for contact tracing and understanding where he was in the course of the disease.

Mr Trump's nonchalant message about not fearing the virus comes as his own administration has encouraged Americans to be careful and take precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the disease as cases continue to spike across the country.

For more than eight months, his efforts to play down the threat of the virus in hopes of propping up the economy ahead of the election have drawn bipartisan criticism.

Only a day earlier, he suggested he had finally grasped the true nature of the virus, saying in a video: "I get it."

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