U.S. President Donald Trump's refusal to wear a mask in public during the COVID-19 pandemic is because of fears that it would "send the wrong message" and harm his re-election chances, a recent report by The Associated Press suggested, citing anonymous officials from the Trump administration and his 2020 presidential campaign team.

Trump said he did not wear a mask during a tour on Tuesday of a Honeywell International Inc in Arizona after consulting the company's chief executive, despite requirements at the plant that workers wear them. He said he tried some masks on backstage.

The U.S. president has not been wearing a mask in public despite health advice from his administration encouraging people to do so to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

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"The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement," the AP story said, revealing that Trump believes wearing a mask would "send the wrong message" and make him look ridiculous, as he told advisers in private conversations.

Trump is afraid that wearing a mask would make it seem like he is preoccupied with health instead of focused on reopening the American economy – which his aides believe is the key to his re-election chances in November.

The story said he has told confidants that he fears images of him in a mask could appear in negative ads.

"It's a vanity thing, I guess, with him," U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Trump on MSNBC.

"How people cannot wear masks – that to me is even disrespectful," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "You put so many people at risk because you did not want to wear a mask?"

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence wore a mask while touring a General Motors plant that is manufacturing ventilators on April 30, two days after igniting a storm of criticism for failing to put on a mask during a visit to the Mayo Clinic despite strict coronavirus restrictions requiring them there.

The United States is leading the world in both COVID-19 infections and fatalities, totaling more than 1.3 million and over 78,000 respectively.

Several staff members close to the president and his inner circle have been infected, including one of his valets, a personal assistant of his daughter Ivanka Trump, the press secretary of Pence and the wife of White House adviser Stephen Miller.

A recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that 59 percent of Republicans said they wore a mask when leaving home, compared with 76 percent of Democrats.