Trump Wears Face Mask During Walter Reed Visit

Elizabeth Janney
Updated ·3 min read

BETHESDA, MD — For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, President Donald Trump was out in public wearing a mask over the weekend. He has previously shied away from putting on a face covering in the public eye.

The new look for Trump came while he was visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

"When you're in a hospital, especially in that particular setting where you are talking to a lot of soldiers and people that in some cases just got off the operating table, I think it's a great thing to wear a mask," Trump told reporters Saturday, according to NBC. " I've never been against masks, but I do believe they have a time and a place."

At Walter Reed, Trump planned to visit with health care workers who had been treating coronavirus patients as well as wounded military members and their families, NBC reported.

His campaign released video from the visit showcasing the masked president and his entourage, which the president retweeted, as they walked through a hallway at the hospital:

In Montgomery County, where Walter Reed is located, the local government in late June required people to wear masks in public when they could not put distance between themselves and others.

In early April, the Department of Defense suggested everyone at military facilities wear face coverings when they could not put 6 feet of distance between themselves and others as well.

"I'm so glad that he obeyed the rules of Walter Reed," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. "Now he's crossed a bridge," she said. "If we want to stop the spread of the coronavirus, you have to wear a mask."

Trump did not wear a mask when visiting a mask factory in Arizona in early May and during other appearances in public. Briefly he wore a face covering on a May visit to a Ford facility in Michigan after its chairman requested it, according to NPR, which said he did so away from cameras.

Col. Andrew Barr, who is the director of Walter Reed, emphasized the importance of masks during a coronavirus briefing earlier in the week.

"It is crucial for all of us ... but especially here at the hospital in our clinic areas — where we have patients receiving care and family members that may be accompanying them — to wear those face masks, maintain that good social distance of 6 feet or more, and certainly to continue hand washing," Barr said in a statement.

As researchers study states with rapidly increasing rates of infection, Barr said: "They seem to have a few things in common: large gatherings of people who are not wearing face masks, probably not washing their hands or maintaining social distance."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended Americans wear masks or cloth face coverings when they are in public and around people who aren't in their household, especially if they cannot put physical distance between themselves and others.

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This article originally appeared on the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Patch