President Trump is meeting with Attorney General William P. Barr and conferring with governors and state law enforcement officials Monday after a weekend of rioting and protests in dozens of cities, including arson and looting just yards from the White House.
“This is the law-and order-president,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on “Fox & Friends.” “He’s taking every single possible action to ensure that our streets are safe.”
White House aides said there are no current plans for the president to give a special televised address to the nation, saying he has been clear in his comments about the need to restore law and order and for peaceful protests against alleged police brutality against minorities. Mr. Trump said Sunday the administration is labeling the anarchist movement antifa as a terrorist organization.
“A national Oval Office address is not going to stop antifa,” Ms. McEnany said. “What’s going to stop antifa is action, and this president is committed to acting on this. He has several meetings pertaining to that today and that’s his focus right now, is acting and keeping our streets safe.”
The demonstrations outside the White House over the weekend grew so unruly that Secret Service agents briefly escorted the president to a secure underground bunker on Friday night, according to people familiar with the incident.
Ms. McEnany said “we feel very protected” inside the White House.
“The Secret Service is remarkable and they’ve been doing remarkable work, so we feel safe here behind the White House gates,” she said. “But look, we want America to be safe. We want to come together as one country. We’re better than this. America’s stronger than this. America’s about unity.”
White House domestic policy adviser Brooke Rollins said Mr. Trump “and his focus on bringing safety and security and prosperity to America has never been more laser-focused.”
“We are working through a list of solutions and possibilities, bipartisan — how do we come together, how do we use this as a unifying force for this country?” she said Monday in a forum hosted by Politico.
Asked about a possible speech by the president, she said “everything’s on the table.”
“He is in a constant narrative and conversation with his citizens — those that voted for him and those that didn’t, and those that believe in his policies and those that may not,” she said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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