Trump reportedly wanted to rip open his button-down to reveal a Superman T-shirt to surprise people when he left the hospital

• President Donald Trump floated an idea to surprise observers by ripping open his button-down shirt and reveal a Superman t-shirt underneath, according to a New York Times report.
• Trump made several calls during his stay at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week, in which he proposed the idea of first appearing physically weak to observers.
• Upon leaving the hospital, he would rip open a button-down dress shirt to reveal a shirt with the Superman logo, The Times reported.

President Donald Trump, who contracted the coronavirus earlier this month, floated an idea to surprise observers by ripping open his button-down shirt to reveal a Superman t-shirt underneath, according to a New York Times report published Saturday.

Trump made several calls during his stay at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week, in which he proposed the idea of first appearing physically weak to observers, people familiar with the matter reportedly said. Upon leaving the hospital, he would rip open his dress shirt to reveal a shirt with the famous Superman logo, according to The Times.

Trump announced he was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Friday, October 2. By the next night, he was transported to Walter Reed and began taking remdesivir, an anti-viral drug. He was also given an experimental antibody cocktail from the drugmaker Regeneron, and later placed on the steroid dexamethasone.

During Trump's three-day stay at the hospital, contradicting narratives on his prognosis emerged. Unnamed Trump advisors and other associates reportedly described him as being "very tired, very fatigued and having some trouble breathing," according to CNN. Others have claimed the rumors were exaggerated.

The uncertainty of Trump's condition was exacerbated after White House physician Sean Conley gave differing timelines for the president's infection. Conley initially claimed that Trump's condition was improving after a 72-hour diagnosis, which meant he would have been diagnosed on Wednesday, September 30. He later released a statement saying he "incorrectly" stated the timeline.

At the time, Conley also dodged several important questions pertaining to Trump's diagnosis, including whether the president received supplemental oxygen.

On Sunday, Trump briefly left the hospital and rode around in the presidential SUV, waving to supporters. His trip was widely criticized for having allegedly endangered those around him in a confined space, including US Secret Service agents, for a photo op.

By Monday, he walked out of the hospital. He has since scheduled to appear at several campaign rallies ahead of the November 3 election.

"Don't let it dominate you," Trump said in a recorded video. "Don't be afraid of it. You're going to beat it."

As of October, over 210,000 people have died of the coronavirus in the US.