President Trump on Monday berated the nation’s governors on a conference call, describing them as “weak” in the face of growing racial unrest and urging them to try to “dominate” unruly protests, according to three people on the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
Trump also called on the governors to take back the streets and use force to confront protesters. He said if they did not, they would look like “fools,” alarming several governors on the call as they communicated privately, according to the officials.
“If you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time,” Trump said, according to a person on the call.
Trump told the governors that “you have to use the military” and “we have a wonderful military,” and he mused about the Occupy Wall Street movement and said it was a “disgrace” that was ended by governors and mayors being tough.
The president said that people arrested at the protests should serve 10-year prison sentences, according to another person familiar with the call.
“You’re allowed to fight back,” he said describing the situation as a “war.” “Now maybe my attorney general will stop me from saying that … but you are all big, tough, strong people and you are allowed to fight back.”
Many of the protests have featured violent clashes with the police, as well as the destruction of private property and looting.
Trump has remained mostly silent on the issue beyond his Twitter account, where he as at times sent out tweets that were more inflammatory than calming during the unrest.
His comments on the call drew immediate criticism from some governors, who charged he is inflaming tensions.
“The president repeatedly and viciously attacked governors, who are doing everything they can to keep the peace while fighting a once-in-a-generation global pandemic,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said in a statement following the call. “The president’s dangerous comments should be gravely concerning to all Americans, because they send a clear signal that this administration is determined to sow the seeds of hatred and division, which I fear will only lead to more violence and destruction. We must reject this way of thinking.”
Trump and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) had a testy exchange on the call. Pritzker called out the president’s rhetoric. The president replied that he does not like Pritzker’s rhetoric, either, and that Pritzker mishandled his state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to two people on the call.
Another person on the call said Trump praised Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and thanked Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper for his assistance.
When someone made a comment about the Minnesota response looking like an occupying force, Trump said that after the recent violence, “people wouldn’t have minded an occupying force.”
He added, according to a call participant, that the first phase of the response in Minneapolis was “weak and pathetic.” The National Guard phase was “domination … It couldn’t be any better. It was a beautiful thing to watch.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday afternoon that the primary focus of the call was encouraging the deployment of the National Guard at protests nationwide and said the president wanted to ensure that streets were “dominated with a police force and with a National Guard presence.”
Trump publicly addressed Floyd’s killing during remarks Saturday in Florida, where he was on hand to witness the launch of U.S. astronauts into space.
“Yesterday I spoke to George’s family and expressed the sorrow of our entire nation for their loss. I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace,” he said before moving on to address the successful rocket launch. “Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos, are the mission at hand.”
Those remarks stood in contrast to many of his tweets, which were more belligerent in nature.
“I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe,” the president tweeted Saturday morning about protests outside the White House on Friday night. “They let the ‘protesters’ scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard — didn’t know what hit them … Nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.”
The protests grew so heated Friday night outside the White House that the Secret Service rushed the president to an underground bunker previously used during terrorist attacks, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of security for the president.
Early last month, Trump rooted on people protesting public health restrictions put in place by governors in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
He expressed support on May 1 for armed protesters who had stormed the Michigan Capitol, demanding the state lift coronavirus restrictions. Trump tweeted Friday that “these are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely!”
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