It was the seventh day of violent protests across America, and criticism was mounting against a president who had not been seen for almost 48 hours. Aides were divided on whether President Trump should address a wounded nation.
It was not until about 4 p.m. Monday, according to senior officials, that the president seized on an idea floated during a day of brainstorming and told a room of his closest advisers, “I think we should do this.”
His words set in motion a plan to clear Lafayette Square of protesters so that Trump could walk, just as a curfew fell over Washington, the 100 yards or so to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been set ablaze the night before by demonstrators.
The result was exactly what aides had hoped for. While CNN and other media outlets fulminated at the use of tear gas to deliver a photo opportunity, White House officials’ phones blew up with congratulatory messages from supporters and donors as they shared a dramatic black-and-white image taken by Doug Mills of the New York Times. It showed a stern-faced president striding purposely from the White House.
“I’ve gotten texts, phone calls — my phone hasn’t stopped from people who just said, ‘You know, wow, that is what America needed to see today,’” said a senior administration official. “That is leadership.”
.@realDonaldTrump walks from the White House to the Historic St. John’s Church that was damaged during a night of unrest. pic.twitter.com/TWUckesbnE
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) June 2, 2020
Barely five months before November’s election, the death of George Floyd in policy custody provides Trump with a stern test of leadership.
Eight former and serving White House officials described how Monday’s dramatic day unfolded, with aides initially split over whether the president should speak directly to the nation. But inaction was not an option, according to a barrage of text messages and emails arriving from outside allies concerned that the White House had not grasped how the narrative was slipping away.
Hesitation was driven by memories of Trump’s Oval Office coronavirus address, which was muddled by missteps on key details. But chief of staff Mark Meadows was among those arguing that the growing wave of protests needed a formal response, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Key election constituencies, such as suburban women, needed reassurance that the president was in charge and had a plan to impose security.
“We all want to show the American people that law and order was of paramount importance to this administration,” said the senior official who was present for the president’s decision. “And that, you know, you had a president who was leading.”
White House press assembled in the Rose Garden minutes before the president was due to speak, even as explosions of tear gas could be heard outside. It made for a dramatic backdrop as Trump demanded that governors take tougher action to quell violence, or he would deploy troops.
“If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” he said.
Minutes later, with the clock just ticking past the start of the 7 p.m. curfew, he walked out of the White House to St. John’s Episcopal Church, nicknamed the “Church of Presidents.” His daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and Attorney General William Barr followed him, with the acrid smell of tear gas causing some watching journalists to cough.
The president held a Bible in the air for a photograph, delivering what one official called an “iconic moment showing American greatness.”
The moment was pure Trump, said another senior administration official.
“If you know Trump at all, you would know the decision to go to the church was the president’s entirely,” he said. “Staffers are free to offer ideas and debate each other, but the boss makes the decision. Period.”
The result was jubilation among officials who had wanted to deliver a clear narrative of a president in charge.
Meadows told the Washington Examiner: “The president did what he does best: set a vision, acted on it, and started a nation to start believing again.”
At the same time, it triggered a wave of condemnation from opponents and critical headlines in some media outlets.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York described using tear gas to create what Democrats derided as a photo opportunity as “shameful.”
And CNN denounced it as a “made-for-TV embrace of authoritarianism’s imagery and tools” that risked “unleashing toxic political forces.”
But even that had been factored into the White House decision-making, said a former official familiar with the discussions.
“He knows and understands the press better than they know themselves,” the person said.
The visuals of a president emerging from the White House to visit a blackened church may have been designed to reassure the watching public that it had nothing to fear, but in Trumpworld, riling opponents is always a useful side effect.
