Not that it would have made any difference to the old man

BBC:

Lloyd Austin: White House not told for days defence secretary in hospital

The Biden administration was not told for days that US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalised, at least one official has told US media.

Mr Austin, 70, was admitted to the Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday due to complications following surgery.

An official told the BBC's US partner CBS that the White House was not informed of this until at least Thursday morning.

Mr Austin has accepted responsibility for the lack of communication.

"I recognise I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed," he said in a statement.

"I commit to doing better."

The defence secretary sits just below the president in the chain of command for the US military.

That’s the BBC; meanwhile, the tabloid New York Times spent its energy and newsprint on an investigative report that attempted to out Taylor Swift as a closet lesbian. The Times obviously knows its readers.