Ford Asks Trump to Wear Mask for Michigan Plant Trip

President Trump has been told to wear a face mask when he visits a Ford factory in Michigan Thursday—but it's not clear whether he plans to comply with the directive. The president has eschewed masks during public appearances, including a visit to a mask factory in Arizona, and he has never been photographed wearing one, CNBC reports. "Our policy is that everyone wears PPE to prevent the spread of COVID-19," Ford said in a statement Tuesday. The company said all of its safety protocols had been shared with the White House ahead of Trump's visit to the Rawsonville plant in Ypsilanti, which has been repurposed to make ventilators.

Trump, asked Tuesday whether he would wear a mask, said: "It depends. In certain areas I would, in certain areas I don’t. But I will certainly look at it. It depends on what situation. Am I standing right next to everybody, or am I spread out? And also you look, is something a hospital? Is it a ward? What is it exactly? I'm going to a plant. So we'll see. Where it’s appropriate I would do it certainly." Ford said later in the day that the White House would "make its own determination." The Trump visit contradicts an executive order from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banning all nonessential visits to manufacturing facilities, though her office says it isn't planning to block the visit, the Detroit News reports. (More President Trump stories.)