Even most elected Republicans now openly advocate for wearing masks and have been pictured with their noses and mouths covered, in part to set an example for the country. But Trump still refuses to wear a mask in public, and most guests at his two July 4 celebrations -- at Mt. Rushmore and on the White House South Lawn -- were bare-faced.

"I think it ought to be a national, a national requirement," said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." A Democrat, Murphy has nonetheless maintained a cordial relationship with Trump and dined with him last month at the President's golf course in Bedminster.

A day later, Trump's top aide said the White House is never likely to require all Americans to wear masks.

"When we look at masks and the wearing of masks, that's done on a location basis when you can't have social distancing," chief of staff Mark Meadows said on Fox News. "Certainly a national mandate is not in order."

Three months after reversing course and recommending masks -- a move officials later conceded was confusing and awkward -- top Republicans and allies of the President are only now coming to the realization that mask-wearing will be an essential element to containing a still-raging pandemic.

White House officials are discussing taking a more active role in encouraging masks as they shift to a strategy of preparing Americans to live long-term with the virus. After appearing at a string of events without social distancing and where masks were scarce, Trump's campaign said Sunday it would host a New Hampshire campaign rally where attendees will be "provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear."

Yet Trump's willingness to shift personally on the issue is far from clear. While he likened himself to the "Lone Ranger" on one of the few occasions he wore a mask in private, he has not used his powerful social media platforms to encourage his supporters to do the same. And in meetings with advisers, Trump has stated that more strenuous calls to wear masks might send the wrong message as he attempts to move on from the virus.

The debate over masks has come to encapsulate a federal effort marked by repeated reversals, conflicting recommendations, low stockpiles and competing internal interests that lead to muddled messaging and negative health outcomes.

The bungled response has caused grave damage to the President's political outlook -- with his reluctance on masks only deepening the impression that Trump is not taking the pandemic seriously. Many of Trump's closest allies now say in private that wearing a mask in public could help him appear more attuned to the crisis. They fear his failure to do so -- and to encourage his supporters to follow suit -- could threaten the economic recovery Trump is counting on to fuel his reelection, because further outbreaks could roll back the reopenings he desperately needs to have a chance in November.

The Trump administration's decision in the pandemic's earliest days to recommend against

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