This is indeed the irony of the day. That the president and first lady have tested positive for the coronavirus — and of course it remains to be seen how ill they will become from it — should first be seen as a simple matter of workplace transmission. At one level, the White House is a workplace like any other. From all accounts, it wasn’t one that took seriously testing precautions, physical distancing, masks, and contact tracing. That several people who work in the White House contracted coronavirus shouldn’t come as a surprise.
On top of that, the president and his staff travel frequently and have contacts with large numbers of people, many of whom also aren’t taking the pandemic seriously. This occupational transmission is entirely consistent with what we have been seeing at the public health level: If you don’t take the precautions seriously, then you’re at higher risk of getting sick.