It took six days of rioting, looting, and violence for President Trump to address the nation. And on Monday, when he did finally give an address, his demand for law and order and his salute to peaceful protesters was largely overshadowed by an unnecessary photo op that forced law enforcement to clear away nonviolent protesters who were in the area.
Had the White House waited 15 minutes, the Secret Service would have had the right to force the protesters to dispel since they would have been violating Washington’s 7 p.m. curfew. Instead, law enforcement needlessly provoked peaceful civilians so Trump could stand in front of a church and hold a Bible. The whole event was, as my colleague Tim Carney put it, crude, awkward, and entirely preventable. And it speaks to the larger issue with Trump’s response to these riots, which is: There has been no real response.
The White House waited six days — six! — to put the president of the United States in front of the cameras, where he could help lead our hurting country. Six days to plan, six days to prepare, and six days to coordinate. But what we saw on Monday night was not the result of careful preparation. The White House could have directed the Secret Service to set up its barricade further out so that protesters were nowhere near St. John’s Church or Lafayette Square. Or they could have waited until Washington’s curfew began to start expelling the crowd.
Either the president’s team didn’t stop to consider these options or they chose to ignore them in an attempt to show off Trump’s “strength.” I’m not sure which is worse. But it’s clear that this stunt undermined what little good Trump’s address did. Because at the root of this conflict, to quote Carney again, is a frayed relationship between law enforcement and the public made worse by continued police aggression.
What we need is a restoration of public trust in the institution meant to protect and serve us. The attacks on peaceful protesters in front of the White House on Monday night will not restore that trust; it will further degrade it. Trump is right that we need a president who values and upholds law and order, but not at the expense of the rights and safety of law-abiding citizens. The president has yet to find this balance.
The White House needs to get its act together. We need a strong, unified response, one that helps relieve tensions between peaceful protesters and law enforcement while stamping out violent instigators who have no interest in meaningful protests. There are a few ways to do this: Trump could host a summit between top law enforcement officials and the leaders of organized protests, as my colleague Tom Rogan mentioned. He could visit minority-owned businesses that have been directly affected by these riots and show the world that violence has a cost. And he could make an effort to show peaceful protesters that he is listening rather than forcing them to the side while he poses for the cameras.
Trump has had so many opportunities to lead over the past week, but he has squandered each of them. He remained on the sidelines for too long and then fumbled his return to the public eye. This lack of communication and coordination is its own kind of crisis and one that will only make the present conflict worse.
