A Pentagon official distanced top military leaders from President Trump’s photo-op in front of a vandalized church across from the White House.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accompanied Trump on his walk from the White House across Lafayette Square on Monday.
Before Trump left the White House and the city’s 7 p.m. curfew began, law enforcement dispersed peaceful protesters from the area. The use of force has been heavily criticized by local and national figures.
“Their understanding was they were walking out of the White House to walk through Lafayette Park to review efforts to quell the protests,” a senior Defense Department official told a PBS NewsHour correspondent. “They were not aware that the park police and law enforcement had made a decision to clear the square … Once they walked out, they continued with him.”
“As that meeting concluded, the President indicated an interest in viewing the troops that were outside and the Secretary and the Chairman went with him to do so. That’s the extent of what’s taken place. And they were part of the group who continued through Lafayette Park,” the official said.
When Trump and members of his administration arrived at St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was set on fire a day earlier, the president held up a Bible for the cameras.
Esper, Attorney General William Barr, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, chief of staff Mark Meadows, and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany posed with Trump in front of the boarded-up church that had been damaged during the protests. Milley was not in the group photograph.
