How Trump’s Idea for a Photo Op Led to Havoc in a Park

New York Times logoWhen the history of the Trump presidency is written, the clash with protesters that preceded President Trump’s walk across Lafayette Square may be remembered as one of its defining moments.

WASHINGTON — After a weekend of protests that led all the way to his own front yard and forced him to briefly retreat to a bunker beneath the White House, President Trump arrived in the Oval Office on Monday agitated over the television images, annoyed that anyone would think he was hiding and eager for action.

He wanted to send the military into American cities, an idea that provoked a heated, voices-raised fight among his advisers. But by the end of the day, urged on by his daughter Ivanka Trump, he came up with a more personal way of demonstrating toughness — he would march across Lafayette Square to a church damaged by fire the night before.

The only problem: A plan developed earlier in the day to expand the security perimeter around the White House had not been carried out. When Attorney General William P. Barr strode out of the White House gates for a personal inspection early Monday evening, he discovered that protesters were still on the northern edge of the square. For the president to make it to St. John’s Church, they would have to be cleared out. Mr. Barr gave the order to disperse them. Continue reading.

Top newspapers deliver scathing rebukes of Trump’s absence as nation protests: ‘He had nothing to say’

AlterNet logoThe Washington Post and The New York Times served up hard-hitting news articles Sunday night rebuking President Donald Trump’s absence on the sixth day and night of protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

“Never in the 1,227 days of Trump’s presidency has the nation seemed to cry out for leadership as it did Sunday, yet Trump made no attempt to provide it.” The Washington Post‘s Philip Rucker reported, adding that “Trump stayed safely ensconced inside and had nothing to say, besides tweeting fuel on the fire.”

Rucker, the Post’s White House Bureau Chief, did not stop his clear recriminations there. Continue reading.