President Trump on Thursday brought a mask with him to tour of a Ford plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., but said he didn’t “want to give the press the pleasure of seeing” him wear it while he was on camera.
“I didn’t*want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it,” he said. “In the back area I did have a mask on. I had goggles and a mask right back there.”
While speaking without a face covering -- next to others wearing masks -- the president added that masks were not necessary in the front of the plant, where he was standing. “They’re not necessary here. Everybody’s been tested, in fact I was tested this morning so it’s not necessary,” the president said. “I was given a choice and I had one on in an area where they preferred it.”
He continued, “I honestly - I think I look better in the mask, but I am making a speech, so I won’t have it now.”
When asked if it was true that it wasn’t required that the president wear a mask, Ford’s CEO, Jim Hackett, told reporters, “It’s up to him.”
In a statement Thursday afternoon, the*Ford Motor Company added:*“Bill Ford encouraged President Trump to wear a mask when he arrived.*He wore a mask during a private viewing of three Ford GTs from over the years.*The president later removed the mask for the remainder of the visit.” Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, has been the company’s executive chairman.