President Donald Trump wore goggles but not a mask on a tour of a Honeywell plant in Arizona on Tuesday, as the White House said it had been told officials were not required to cover their faces.
Before leaving Washington for Phoenix, Trump said he’d wear a mask “if it’s a mask facility,” though it wasn’t clear if he was talking about the plant’s usage guidelines or what the facility makes. The Honeywell HON, -0.24% plant produces N95 masks.
Also see:Honeywell’s latest pivot is into quantum computing.
The president in later remarks before boarding Air Force One said, “if it’s a mask environment, I would have no problem.”
A White House official said that the facility said officials were not required to wear masks but to take all precautions, according to a White House pool report. Trump toured an assembly line, observing how the masks are made. The pool report said no one on the tour was wearing a mask, but also noted a sign instructing employees to wear masks. A CNN reporter tweeted a picture of the sign.
The Associated Press reported that nearly all Honeywell workers and members of the press as well as some White House staff and Secret Service agents wore masks, but not senior White House staff.
Vice President Mike Pence drew criticism for not wearing a mask while touring the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota last week, but later donned one while at a General Motors GM, +2.45% plant in Indiana. Pence admitted Sunday that “I should have worn a mask at the Mayo Clinic.”
Trump also acknowledged that the White House is considering phasing out its coronavirus task force, and said, “we will have something in a different form.”
Now read:‘I should have worn a mask at the Mayo Clinic,’ Pence admits.
Add Comment