Donald Trump is trying to flex his presidential muscle as the nation remains in a state of unrest since the death of George Floyd. As demonstrators gather across more than 100 U.S. cities to demand justice in Floyd’s death, Trump has now threatened to deploy the U.S. military if states cannot contain protest violence.
Trump made the announcement Monday night from the White House’s Rose Garden, saying he would “solve the problem” if governors couldn’t.
“I am mobilizing all federal and local resources, civilian and military, to protect the rights of law abiding Americans,” Trump said in the extraordinary address, which was delivered as police fired tear gas outside to push protesters back from the White House, according to NBC News.
“If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said.
To activate the military to operate in the U.S., Trump would have to invoke the 213-year-old Insurrection Act, which is part of his plan, inside sources told NBC.
The military police forces would come from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and possibly Fort Belvoir in Virginia and could arrive in Washington within hours, these people said.
The people familiar with Trump’s decision said Trump was angry Sunday night at the destruction protesters caused in Washington, particularly the vandalization of national monuments.
Keep in mind, Trump seemingly agreed in a tweet with the notion that white nationalists were not involved in the destruction of property at these protests even though Minnesota officials said they believed white nationalists were the ones inciting riots.
The Insurrection Act was last invoked during the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.
Trump’s remarks came hours after he urged the nation’s governors to get “tough” with unruly demonstrators. “Most of you are weak,” he told them, according to audio of the call, which was obtained by NBC News. “You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time, they’re gonna run over you, you’re gonna look like a bunch of jerks,” Trump said.
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