Trump claims he's 'all for masks,' even for himself, despite never wearing one in public

President Donald Trump's resistance to wearing a mask is well-known and he's never done so in front of news cameras.

But as pressure mounts from his fellow Republicans and Fox television hosts for him to "set an example" as the pandemic worsens, Trump on Wednesday claimed "I'm all for masks" and "would have no problem" wearing one in public.

"People have seen me wearing one. If I'm in a group of people where we're not, you know, 10 feet away and, but usually I'm not in that position and everyone is tested. Because I'm the president, they get tested before they see me. But if I were in a tight situation with people -- I would absolutely," Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network.

Trump appeared to refer to an unverified photo of him wearing one out of the view of news cameras during part of his tour of a Ford plant in Detroit back in May, even though he said that same day he intentionally removed his mask before walking before news cameras and telling reporters he "didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it."

"It was a dark black mask and I thought it looked okay. Looked like the Lone Ranger," he joked in the Wednesday Fox interview.

As the pressure has grown and more governors and state officials are making masks mandatory, the White House has argued Trump not wearing one was "his choice" -- and a matter of "personal choice of any individual" that the Centers for Disease Control has said is recommended but not required.

At the same time, the White House said the president believed Americans should follow the guidance of local authorities.

It was the same language Vice President Mike Pence used again Tuesday while also claiming surprisingly, "Well, the president's worn a mask in public, as have I. And you've heard a strong encouragement, about mask wearing."

Back in May, when Trump asked a reporter to take his mask off when asking a question -- and the reporter said he would just speak louder -- Trump accused him of wanting "to be politically correct."

And four times in a June interview with the Wall Street Journal, the president repeatedly discussed how he believed masks were a "double-edged sword" and mocked former Vice President Joe Biden for wearing one.

In the Fox interview, the president repeated that he thinks the coronavirus will "just disappear" eventually, even though public health officials have made clear it will not simply go away.

"I think we are going to be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point that's going to sort of just disappear, I hope," Trump said.