As the head of the executive branch, that's exactly how it works.

Edit: Not sure why I'm being downvoted. Public statements in the official capacity as president are absolutely policy statements for the executive when they aren't affecting independent bodies like the Department of Justice. The Department of Health and Human Services isn't an independent body, and so the president's statements in a damn press briefing are policy positions.

This is like saying that a CEO's press statements somehow aren't policy positions of the company.