# As Trump says he is positive for coronavirus, a look back at his shifting statements on face masks and the severity of COVID-19

Before testing positive for coronavirus, Trump was planning to hold rallies in Wisconsin this weekend, even as the White House Task Force said people need to double down on social distancing “to the maximal degree possible,” the Washington Post reported. Two cities where the rallies are expected to take place, La Crosse and Green Bay, have been designated COVID-19 “red zones,” the paper added. It isn’t yet clear whether the next two presidential debates with the Democratic candidate Joe Biden will go ahead.

Trump has chosen not to wear a mask during most public engagements, and many members of his family, including his children Eric, Don Jr., Ivanka and Tiffany were photographed not wearing masks during Tuesday evening’s presidential debate. But while the president had also told people the virus would go away earlier in the summer, his position on COVID-19 and face coverings has shifted in recent months.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in January it didn’t recommend the general public wear masks. “The virus is not spreading in the general community,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the Center for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said. “We don’t routinely recommend the use of face masks by the public to prevent respiratory illness.”

The president’s stance has evolved along with his administration’s on both the severity of COVID-19 and mask wearing. 

Here’s a timeline of Trump’s comments:
February: During an interview with journalist Bob Woodward for “Rage,” a biography on the president, Trump told him that the coronavirus was “deadly stuff.”
Feb 26: Trump is asked what the U.S. is doing to boost production of masks. “Well, we can get a lot of it. In fact, we’ve ordered a lot of it just in case we need it. We may not need it; you understand that. But [just] in case — we’re looking at a worst-case scenario. We’re going to be set very quickly.”
March 9: Trump compares coronavirus to influenza, tweeting: “Last year 37,000 Americans died” from the flu. “Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on,” he added. One week later, the president said, “Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before victory is won.”
April 3: Trump says his administration recommends wearing cloth face coverings. However, the president says he won’t wear a mask himself. “From recent studies, we know that the transmission from individuals without symptoms is playing a more significant role in the spread of the virus than previously understood,” Trump said, adding, “You don’t have to do it. I’m choosing not to do it, but some people may want to do it and that’s OK. It may be good. Probably will.”
July 19: “I’ll be right eventually,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News journalist Chris Wallace. When Wallace laughed, Trump doubled down on his previous statements. “I said it’s going to disappear. I’ll say it again: It’s going to disappear — and I’ll be right.” When asked if such statements discredit him, Trump said no, adding, “You know why it doesn’t discredit? Because I’ve probably been right more than anybody else.”
Wallace said that, at that time, testing was up by 37%, yet positive cases of COVID-19 were up 194%. Trump replied, “Many of those people are young people that would heal in a day. They have the sniffles.” Trump will not change his position on masks. “No, I want people to have a certain freedom,” he said, adding, “I don’t agree with the statement that if everyone wears a mask everything disappears.”
July 20: Trump tweets a photo of himself wearing a mask with a presidential seal. “Many people say it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance.”
July 21: At the president’s daily presser, Trump said, “I have no problems with the masks. If you’re close together, I would put on the mask.” In response to a question about whether he’d experienced a change of heart on both masks and social distancing. “I’m getting used to the mask … I will wear it where appropriate. I’ve always agreed with that. I’ve never fought either one.” 
Sept. 16: In an ABC town hall, Trump responded to a question that he had played down the virus, given his comments in Woodward’s book. “Yeah, well, I didn’t downplay it. I actually, in many ways, I up-played it, in terms of action,” the president said.