US President Donald Trump, who had earlier made a virtue of not wearing masks, on Monday posted a photo of himself sporting one.

Calling himself patriotic for wearing a mask, Trump tweeted: “We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance.”

“There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favourite President!” he added.

This comes three months after the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked people to wear masks in public.

Trump’s pivot away from his earlier stance of not wearing a facial covering in public appears to have been primarily motivated by falling poll numbers, a source close to the President told CNN.

Last week, Trump’s campaign aides told Trump to wear a mask as American citizens were disappointed with his attitude towards the outbreak, according to an official who attended that meeting, as reported by Hindustan Times .

Earlier, Trump had worn a mask while touring a Ford plant in May. However, he did not allow media reporters to cover his tour, saying: “Didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it,” a Wion news report claimed.