Trump says 'real test' ahead in his COVID fight

President Donald Trump told Americans from his hospital room that the next few days will be the "real test" of his treatment for COVID-19, after a series of contradictory messages from the White House caused widespread confusion about his condition.

Edward Baran reports.

A crowd of President Trump's supporters gathered outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Saturday night (October 3) waving flags and voicing support for the president.

And according to Trump himself, they should be feeling positive.

In a four-minute video posted on Twitter, the President said he "wasn't feeling so well" when he was admitted to the hospital on Friday but said he was now feeling "much better".

"So I just want to tell you that I'm starting to feel good.

You don't know over the next period of a few days - I guess that's the real test- so we'll be seeing what happens over those next, next couple of days." White House photos show the president working while at the medical center.

It follows a day of mixed messages on Saturday when a team of White House doctors presented a relatively rosy assessment of the president's condition but his chief of staff Mark Meadows said the president's "vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning adding the next 48 hours would be "critical".

Meadows, whose initial comments were delivered on condition that he not be identified, altered his tone hours later, saying Trump was doing "very well" and that "doctors are very pleased with his vital signs."