TOPLINE
In a Twitter rant Saturday morning—his only reaction so far to a night of rioting in various U.S. cities—President Trump thanked Secret Service agents for responding to protesters outside the White House on Friday and warned demonstrators they would have been met with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons” had they breached a protective fence.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 29: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about U.S. relations with China at the … [+] White House May 29, 2020 in Washington, DC as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) looks on. President Trump did not take questions regarding the current situation in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd and todays arrest of Derek Chauvin the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for an extended time causing him to die. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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KEY FACTS
The Guard was ordered to remain on standby in Washington, D.C. Friday night, after protesters hopped barriers erected by Secret Service agents near the White House and hurled bottles at police officers who responded with pepper spray.
For more than five hours, the protesters attempted to break through multiple barriers standing between them and the White House, as officers used riot shields and pepper spray to repel the demonstrators.
Trump wrote that if the protesters had breached the White House fence, they would have been “greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.”
He also attacked D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, claiming she “wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved.”
The president also suggested Saturday would be “MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE,” though it’s not clear what he meant.
In a separate tweet on Saturday in which he used the wrong version of “there” and then corrected the mistake in a separate tweet, Trump said the White House protesters had “little to do with the memory of George Floyd.”
Key background
Trump has taken a more aggressive posture towards protesters in recent days. On Friday, Trump appeared to threaten opening fire against looters, declaring in a tweet that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”; the tweet was later flagged by Twitter for promoting violence. On Saturday, the Pentagon, at President Trump’s request, ordered the military police on alert in preparation for more protests over the weekend.
Tangent
The conservative news outlet the Daily Caller released a video appearing to show a Fox News reporter outside the White House being chased by protesters. In the background, a man can be heard yelling, “F**k that fake-ass news!”
Further reading
Trump Requests Military Help As Protests Escalate. Here’s What Happened Friday Night (Forbes)
Pentagon puts military police on alert to go to Minneapolis (Associated Press)
National Guard summoned to aid cities amid police clashes (Associated Press)
