Donald Trump has said he didn’t wear a facemask during a visit to a car plant in order to deny the press the 'pleasure' of seeing him wear one.

The President made the controversial decision not to wear one during the visit to the Ford Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Thursday.

The factory has been converted to make ventilators and PPE during the coronavirus pandemic. 

And when asked by reporters why he wasn’t wearing a mask he said: “I had one on before. I wore one in the back area, but I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.”

It was not the first time Trump has refused to wear a mask after he ignored guidance to wear one during his visit to an Arizona mask factory earlier this month. 

Mr Trump, who was asked specifically to wear a mask by the state’s attorney general Dana Nessel, added: “In this area…it’s not necessary here, everybody’s been tested and I’ve been tested. In fact I was tested this morning, so it’s not necessary."

During the tour, Ford executives accompanying the President did wear masks and when asked about it he said: “Well that’s their choice. I was given a choice and I had one on in an area where they preferred it. So I put one on and it was very nice, but they said they were not necessary here.”

The company said after his visit: “Bill Ford encouraged President Trump to wear a mask when he arrived. He wore a mask during a private viewing of three Ford GTs from over the years. The president later removed the mask for the remainder of the visit.”

Nessel warned the President that if he didn’t wear one, he would be asked ‘not to return to any unclosed facilities inside our state’. 

She told CNN: "He is a petulant child who refuses to follow the rules. This is not a joke.

“We're going to have to have a very serious conversation with Ford in the event that they let the president in publicly-enclosed spaces defy that order.”

But Trump has since responded to Nessel’s warning and wrote on Twitter: “The Wacky Do Nothing Attorney General of Michigan, Dana Nessel, is viciously threatening Ford Motor Company for the fact that I inspected a Ventilator plant without a mask. Not their fault, & I did put on a mask. No wonder many auto companies left Michigan, until I came along!”