Trump tours mask factory in Arizona
Visit to Phoenix gives push to economic focus
PHOENIX — Making himself Exhibit A for reopening the country, President Donald Trump visited an Arizona face mask factory Tuesday, using the trip to demonstrate his determination to see an easing of stay-at-home orders.
Trump did not wear a mask despite guidelines saying they should be worn inside the factory at all times.
“The people of our country should think of themselves as warriors. We have to open,” Trump declared as he left Washington.
In Arizona, Trump acknowledged the human cost of returning to normalcy.
“I’m not saying anything is perfect, and yes, will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open and we have to get it open soon,” he said.
Trump had said he would don a face mask if the factory was “a mask environment,” but in the end he wore only safety goggles during a tour of the Honeywell facility.
Trump’s visit came as the White House said it hopes to wind down its coronavirus task force in the coming month as the president shifts his focus from battling an “invisible enemy” to rebooting the economy.
The president spent about three hours in Phoenix, touring the Honeywell factory and holding a roundtable on Native American issues.
Aides said the trip would be worth the nearly eight hours of flight time as a symbolic show that the nation is taking steps back to normalcy. The trip was also expected to be a marker of Trump’s return to a regular travel schedule, as he hopes the nation, too, will begin to emerge from seven weeks of virus-imposed isolation.
Trump’s first stop was a meeting with Native American leaders, during which he distributed 1,000 Abbott quick virus tests.
“Native Americans have been hit hard by the terrible pandemic,” Trump said. “Hopefully that will be helpful to you.”