Jacinda Ardern sends her best wishes to Donald Trump after the president was rushed to hospital with coronavirus - and adviser says he's having 'trouble breathing'
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has wished US president Donald Trump a speedy recovery after he was rushed to hospital to be treated for COVID-19.
Trump had 'trouble breathing' as he was admitted to Walter Reed Military Medical Centre in Maryland on Friday evening following his positive coronavirus test.
Officials have told media Trump was 'very tired, very fatigued' and that his condition was much more acute than First Lady Melania Trump.
Ms Ardern directed her best wishes to the US president while speaking at a Labour event at Otara in south Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday.
'We've seen now several world leaders who have been affected by COVID-19 and I know that I stand with others in wishing all the best, because this is obviously a virus that had globally has a devastating impact,' she said.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured on Saturday) has wished US president Donald Trump a speedy recovery after he was rushed to hospital to be treated for COVID-19
Trump had 'trouble breathing' as he was admitted to Walter Reed Military Medical Centre in Maryland on Friday evening following his positive coronavirus test (pictured, Trump arriving at the hospital on Friday)
Ms Ardern has been on the campaign trail as New Zealand heads to election day on October 18.
Advance voting has opened ahead of the big day and Ms Ardern cast her ballot for Labour and her own government's re-election.
Accompanied by partner Clarke Gayford - but not two-year-old daughter Neve - Ms Ardern submitted her vote at the Mount Eden War Memorial Hall.
Her bright red blazer left little doubt as to her allegiance, and as she waited by the ballot boxes for Mr Gayford to finish voting, a pair of star-struck voters told Ms Ardern she had won their support.
The prime minister is in one of the safest Labour seats in the country and is certain to be re-elected, and her party is a hot favourite to win a second term.
'I have a philosophy of campaigning as though it could go either way,' she said.
'We can't take anything for granted and so that's the way (Labour has) campaigned all the way through, working very, very hard.'
New Zealand has non-compulsory voting, meaning most party's campaigning efforts are now geared towards get-out-the-vote operations.
On Saturday, 450 polling places opened as part of an Electoral Commission push to spread out more of the voting before election day.
In Mount Eden, Ms Ardern cast four ballots - an electorate vote for herself, a party vote for her Labour party, as well as her choices in the two referenda her government has put to New Zealanders, on legalising euthanasia and cannabis.
Ms Ardern directed her best wishes to the US president while speaking at a Labour event at Otara in south Auckland, New Zealand , on Saturday
Accompanied by partner Clarke Gayford - but not two-year-old daughter Neve - Ms Ardern cast her vote at the Mount Eden War Memorial Hall
Ms Ardern signalled her intent to vote in favour of the end of life proposal, but has kept her vote on the referendum a secret.
After voting she headed to a Labour phone-banking event in South Auckland's Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate.
Among homemade Labour signs adorned with the party's Let's Keep Moving slogan, Ms Ardern rallied volunteers and called supporters to thank them for their efforts.
Unfortunately, the first four calls the wildly popular PM made went through to voicemail, before she finally got through to volunteer 'Shane' for a chat.
Labour is hot favourite to defeat the opposition National party led by Judith Collins, who will vote on Sunday.
Ms Ardern's key message is one of stability - not to change horses now - as New Zealand begins a recovery for its COVID-ravaged economy.
US President Donald Trump walks off Marine One while arriving at Walter Reed Medical Center
'My very clear pitch will be in the midst of that uncertainty, we need that stability,' she said.
'We need a very strong plan ... and it's a plan that I do think also will create a better New Zealand in the aftermath.'
Since electoral reform in 1996, no party has been able to govern on its own in New Zealand.
For the last three years, Labour has been supported by centre-right New Zealand First and left-wingers the Greens, but polling has Labour within touching distance of a majority on its own.
'I will be seeking the strongest mandate for Labour that I can, but I'd like to think that we have a record that demonstrates we can equally work with what New Zealand delivers,' Ms Ardern said.