Trump to visit swab-maker Puritan Friday; Mills cites security concerns

A manufacturing area with workers wearing protective clothing

Photo / Fred Field President Donald Trump will visit Puritan Medical Products in Guilford Friday. The company is making medical swabs for COVID-19 testing.

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By Maureen Milliken

President Donald Trump plans to visit swab-maker Puritan Medical Products in Guilford Friday, but Gov. Janet Mills said she has concerns his presence will be a security risk.

Puritan is one of only two companies in the world making clinical swabs needed for COVID-19 testing. The company, with a $75.5 million boost from Defense Production Act money included in the federal CARES Act, is doubling production to up to 40 million swabs a month, expanding production to a new plant in Pittsfield.

Trump's office announced Monday that he "is expected to champion the administration’s success in harnessing and bolstering American manufacturing capabilities to create American-made medical supplies and medicine to respond to COVID-19" during his visit. It's his first visit to the state since he became president, according to the White House.

Mills, during a conference call with governors and Trump Monday morning, asked him to reconsider coming because of security concerns. Trump said, "We'll look into that."

But he added, "We have a tremendous crowd of people showing up, as you know. And I think most of them are very favorable. They like their president. But we’ll talk to you about that, certainly.”

Security concerns have been heightened by recent protests surrounding the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis last week.

Tour, remarks planned

The White House notice sent to press organizations Monday said Trump is expected to tour the factory and deliver remarks.

"Manufacturing medical supplies and medicine here in the U.S. will ensure our country is fully prepared for future serious incidents or disasters," the White House notice said. "This private-public partnership is another success in our shared mission to defeat this invisible enemy, and underscores President Trump’s commitment to saving lives and protecting the American people."

It's not clear from the White House announcement what the logistics of the visit will be or how much will be open to the press or public. The Puritan factory is on a narrow street in Guilford, a town of 1,500 in Piscataquis County. The plant is across the street from a sister company, Hardwood Products. When Mainebiz visited on a June day last summer, the parking lots were full, and Puritan officials said that was the normal situation as the plant worked at capacity.

The town is not near Interstate 95, but in the heart of central Maine and accessed by two-lane state routes.

The new production plant in Pittsfield, which is on I-95 and in a more accessible part of the state, is expected to open July 1. Puritan Executive Vice President Timothy Templet said that location, in a 146,000-square-foot building his company is leasing from Cianbro Corp., makes it easier to hire workers than the more remote Guilford location.

Appeal to 'best of all people'

In an address to reporters outside the Blaine House Monday evening, Mills said that the regular calls with governors, Vice President Mike Pence, and sometimes Trump are an opportunity to share "what's happening on the ground in the states" with the focus on the pandemic. She said Monday morning's call was different, with Trump urging governors to be more aggressive in their handling of protesters.

"Both the tone and substance of the president's call was troubling," she said. She said she asked Trump to share what intelligence he had on the nature of the protesters, so she could gauge the danger to Maine people, she didn't get an answer. She told him she was concerned his presence would create unrest in the state.

"Words have power and none are more powerful than those of the president of the United States," said Mills.

In an open statement to Trump, she said, “I ask that when you arrive here, you rise above the language that I heard this morning. I ask that you check the rhetoric at the door and abandon the divisive language that sows the seeds of distrust among our people. I ask that, instead, that you appeal to the best of all people and that you lead us with passion and courage and compassion during this difficult time.”

The Portland Press Herald quoted Trump as saying later that Mills didn't talk him out of coming: "I think she probably talked me into it. She just doesn’t understand me very well."

Tuesday morning, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District, released a statement about her own concerns.

"Gov. Mills has good reason to worry that President Trump’s vitriol could spark unrest in Maine," Pingree said in a prepared statement. "If President Trump cannot put the safety and future of this country ahead of his need to tear down those who may disagree with him politically, he should not come to Maine.”