Donald Trump Says He Will Deploy Military to Us if They Don’t Stop Violent Strike

Declaring himself "your president of law and order," President Donald Trump vowed Monday to return order to American streets using the military if widespread violence isn't quelled, whilst peaceful protesters just outside the White House gates were dispersed with tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets. it had been all, apparently, so Trump could visit a close-by church.

The episode, which amounted to at least one of the foremost highly charged and discordant moments in recent presidential history, came as nationwide unrest escalates and as Trump comes struggling to demonstrate a modicum of conciliation for a rustic torn along racial, ideological and political lines.

He didn't offer that on Monday, choosing instead to retrench. He called violent protests "domestic acts of terror" which enforcement would "dominate the streets" to quell.

"If a city and state refuses to require the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their Residents, then i will be able to deploy the United State military and quickly solve the matter for them,"  President Donald Trump said.

With the constant sound of helicopter blades overhead and a gentle succession of bangs from nearby Lafayette Park, Trump declared himself an "ally of all peaceful protesters."But as he was speaking, peaceful protesters were being urgently dispersed outside the White House gates by police using rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bangs. Several protesters were seen pouring water into their eyes to ease the gas's sting.

Later, Trump walked across the park to St. John's EpiscopalChurch, a house of worship employed by American presidents for quite a century that was partially burned during a Sunday evening protest.

"We have the best country within the world," Trump said ahead of the church, holding a Bible and surrounded by aides, including national security adviser Robert O'Brien, Attorney General Bill Barr, senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, chief of staff Mark Meadows, Defense Secretary MarkEsper and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

He remained at the boarded-up building for a matter of minutes before returning inside the White House.Before Trump's address, a crowd was gathering outside the White House gates before a 7 p.m. ET curfew mandated by the mayor of Washington, including near the church.

A large convoy of military vehicles was seen driving through the White House complex and onto Pennsylvania Avenue before Trump emerged to talk .

Trump said from the garden he was committed to upholding laws and mobilizing military resources to finish nationwide looting.

" President Donald Trump said, My first and highestduty as president is to defend our great country and therefore the American people,I swore an oath to uphold the laws of our United state nation which is strictly what i will be able to do."

In striking terms, Trump said he would use his entire presidential prerogative -- including threatening to invoke a rarely used law dating back to 1807 -- to make sure violent protests end, declaring he would deploy "thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and enforcement officers" to bring order.

Trump said justice would be served for George Floyd, the unarmed Black man who died after a white policeman knelt on his neck as he was being arrested. He said he, along side many other Americans, was "rightly sickened and revolted" by video showing the incident.

Ahead of his appearance on Monday evening, a debate had raged among Trump's advisers over how and whether he should address protests that have spread to dozens of cities.

And Trump himself was angered by coverage depicting him holed up in an underground bunker. He told aides on Monday he wanted to be seen outside the White House gates, consistent with an individual conversant in the matter, which is a component of what drove the choice to stage the photo-op at St. John's Church.

Trump and his family were rushed to an underground bunker on the White House complex as protests raged outside the building on Friday evening. Trump wasn't seen on Sunday and spent most of Monday behind closed doors -- resulting in concern even from his allies that he was absent at a flash of national crisis.

Many of the President's traditional defenders -- from campaign donors to Republicans on Capitol Hill to some within the conservative media -- privately grumbled that Trump allowed several days to pass without addressing the state or making any formal appeals for unity.

Some outside allies reached bent the White House in recent days to push for an appearance from the President during which he would confront a crisis he has largely watched unfold from behind closed doors or in his underground bunker.

One major campaign donor worried the damage inflicted by Trump's absence during a historic weekend of violence and pain could alone imperil his reelection.

A growing number of congressional Republicans, even Trump's allies, also privately said the "caps lock" tweets about tamping down protests using harsh tactics weren't helping things . Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said on "Fox News Sunday" that he had spoken to Trump over the weekend about his inflammatory tweets, which he described as "not constructive."

Over the weekend, some aides sought to convince President Trump to not use violent rhetoric after he wrote on Twitter that "when the looting starts the shooting starts," warning language like that would inflame an already combustible situation and wouldn't appear presidential.

A senior White House aide said governors and mayors should be those responding to the destruction in their respective cities and states -- a view a minimum of partially shared by Trump, who has spent days going after local leaders for not calling the National Guard fast enough or cracking down on violence aggressively enough.

In a heated call with governors on Monday morning, Trump placed responsibility on the governors for resolving the national crisis and said a number of them appeared "weak" in their responses thus far.

Other White House officials argued over the weekend against something as formal as an Oval Office address, an individual familiar said, out of concern that such a speech could "inflame things,not make it better."

Some advisers wonder whether a presidential address calling for calm would be quickly erased by Donald Trump's own penchant for escalation and instigation.