President Donald Trump, who has avoided wearing a mask, wore one in public for the first time.

The unprecedented covering up of his face took place during a visit to a military hospital outside Washington on Saturday, July 11, where he was to meet with wounded soldiers and front-line healthcare workers caring for Covid-19 patients.

Trump had previously refused to wear a mask in public or ask other Americans to do so, saying it was a personal choice.

He had only said he would wear one if he was in a crowd and could not maintain distance from others.

"I think when you are in a hospital, especially in that particular setting when you are talking to a lot of soldiers, 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 at the White House just before his visit to Walter Reed.

Blue mask with gold seal

Trump wore a navy blue mask emblazoned with a presidential seal embossed in gold.

He said "thank you" as he walked by media gathered for a carefully staged photo opportunity.

Even as other officials in his administration called for the use of masks and social distancing, Trump, who faces re-election in November, pressured states to reopen closed economies.

The president was a latecomer to wearing a mask during the pandemic, which has raged across the U.S. since March and infected more than 3.2 million and killed at least 134,000.

Most prominent Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, endorsed wearing masks.

Trump, however, has declined to wear a mask at news conferences, coronavirus task force updates, rallies and other public events.

People close to him have told The Associated Press that the president feared a mask would make him look weak and was concerned that it shifted focus to the public health crisis rather than the economic recovery.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private matters.

Questions remain whether Trump will wear a mask with any regularity.

Americans divided

The wearing of masks became another political dividing line, with Republicans more resistant to wearing them than Democrats.

Few masks were seen at recent Trump campaign events in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Phoenix and South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore.

The only time Trump has been known to wear a mask was during a private part of a tour of a Ford plant in Michigan.

A spokesman for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Trump had spent months ignoring the advice of medical experts and politicising wearing a mask.

"Rather than taking responsibility and leading, he wasted four months that Americans have been making sacrifices by stoking divisions and actively discouraging people from taking a very basic step to protect each other," said the spokesman, Andrew Bates.

Top photo via Getty