We begin on Friday, May 29th, demonstrations around the nation escalate from peaceful protests to violent riots after the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. President Trump told reporters he spoke with the Floyd family and offered his sympathies. Additionally, he called on the Justice Department to expedite the investigation into Floyd’s death.
In the midst of the protests getting out of hand in Minneapolis, Trump defended his Thursday night tweet that said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Twitter determined the tweet violated the site’s rules for “glorifying violence” and took it down.
Saturday, May 30th, as social unrest continues across America, President Trump and Vice President Pence travel down to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to witness the historic SpaceX/NASA launch. It’s the first time a private company sends a crewed mission into space.
Also on Saturday, Trump announces that the Group of Seven (G7) Summit would be postponed after both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel refuse to commit to attending because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sunday, May 31st, Trump posts on Twitter that he’s designating the radical leftist group, Antifa, as a terrorist organization, blaming them for the outbreak of violence that swept through the nation from the peaceful protests.
Monday, June 1st, President Trump gives a speech in the White House Rose Garden, condemning the rioting and looting, and warning that he would deploy the National Guard to states across the country to restore law and order.
Following his address, Trump walked over to Saint John’s Church, which was vandalized and set fire to the night before, and posed in front of it with a Bible in hand. The move was widely criticized as a “photo op” that happened at the expense of protesters being pelted with tear gas and rubber bullets by federal law enforcement.
Tuesday, June 2nd, President Trump and the First Lady visit the Washington D.C. shrine honoring Pope John Paul II. Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory condemned the president’s visit, calling it “baffling and reprehensible.”
Also on Tuesday, Trump announces he’s moving the Republican National Convention from Charlotte, North Carolina after Governor Roy Cooper said there was no guarantee the event could operate at full capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Wednesday, June 3rd, former Defense Secretary James Mattis issues a scathing critique of his former boss in a statement to the Atlantic, saying, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try.”
While the former Defense Secretary had sharp words for Trump, the current Defense Secretary Mark Esper pushes back on the president, saying he does not support using active-duty U.S. military forces to be deployed to cities and states across America to restore order. Meanwhile, the White House releases the results of President Trump’s annual physical, indicating that he “remains healthy.”
Thursday, June 4th, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly rushes to Mattis’s defense, saying that Trump “got nasty” and called Mattis “an honorable man.”
Finally, Bloomberg News reports that President Trump summoned his top advisers from his Cabinet and re-election campaign while his support in a number of battleground states begins to slip. Sources told Bloomberg that the meeting was expected to be “tense,” especially since Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, is widening his lead in the polls.
While the phrase “the walls are closing in” has been become a cliche for the president, if Trump loses the 2020 election, it’s difficult to argue that the past week isn’t a considerable factor, if not, the tipping point for his re-election.
