President Trump spends day in Phoenix, tours plant making masks

PHOENIX – President Donald Trump spent Tuesday in Phoenix to discuss Native American affairs and visit an aerospace facility that started making protective equipment for health care workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

After more than a month cooped up in Washington, Trump spent about three hours in Phoenix touring a Honeywell plant that produces N95 masks and holding a roundtable on Native American issues.

He also signed a proclamation that aims to bring awareness to violence in Native American communities.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey was on the tarmac to greet the president when Air Force One touched down at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport just after noon, about 20 minutes behind schedule.

Air Force One has landed in PHX! @dougducey waiting on the tarmac in the 90° weather to be the first to welcome @realDonaldTrump to AZ. This is his first Presidential trip since the #CoronavirusOutbreak. @KTAR923 pic.twitter.com/3A1Twnfn80

— Ali Vetnar (@Ali_Vetnar) May 5, 2020

Sen. Martha McSally and Reps. Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko were on board with the president on the flight from Washington.

Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs planned to join the group for the Honeywell tour.

Several hundred fans of the president waved Trump flags, donned red hats and cheered as the plane touched down. Several groups of dozens of people were crowded together on street corners outside the Honeywell campus that hosted Trump next to the Phoenix airport.

The president’s motorcade arrived at the Honeywell plant, where the Native American roundtable was to precede the tour, just before 12:30 p.m.

Trump did not wear a mask despite guidelines saying they should be worn inside the factory at all times.

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.

Nearly all factory workers and members of the press as well as some White House staff and Secret Service agents wore masks. Senior White House staff and Honeywell executives did not.

“The people of our country should think of themselves as warriors. We have to open,” Trump declared as he left Washington on a trip that was more about the journey than the destination.

White House aides said it would be worth the nearly eight hours of flight time as a symbolic show that the nation is beginning to reopen.

The trip was 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 sees economic revival as a political imperative, as his allies have noted an erosion in support for the president in recent weeks. Republicans believe Trump’s path to a second term depends on the public’s perception of how quickly the economy rebounds from shutdowns meant to slow the spread of the virus.

That includes in Arizona, a key swing state, which Trump carried by less than four points in 2016.

“I love Arizona. I have a lot of friends in Arizona. I’ve had great success over the years in Arizona,” Trump said before he left Washington.

The trip came as Trump seeks to pivot his focus away from the virus’ spread and toward more familiar — and, aides hope, safer — ground: talking up the economy. As more states have begun to ease closure orders, despite warnings that that could lead to spikes in new cases, Trump has been trying to highlight his administration’s work in helping businesses and employees rebound.

“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.

To that point, aides said the president would be holding more frequent roundtables with CEOs, business owners and beneficiaries of the trillions of dollars in federal aid already approved by Congress, and begin to outline what he hopes to see in a future “phase four” recovery package.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ali Vetnar and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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