Reporter’s Notebook: I Wore a Mask to Trump’s Press Conference and Accidentally Became the Story

I never expected the act of wearing a mask to the White House to turn into a kind of performance art.

When U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday morning that he was going hold a press conference that afternoon, I was surprised. My first question was how many people would be there.

There were already competing claims circulating online about whether Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had contracted Covid-19 (he later reportedly tested negative). All we knew for sure was that a spokesman for Bolsonaro, who had recently taken a photo with Mr. Trump, had definitely tested positive.