President eyes order on use of force
Trump says Democrats unfairly blaming police
DALLAS — President Donald Trump said Thursday he would pursue an executive order to encourage police departments to meet “current professional standards for the use of force,” while slamming Democrats for broadly branding police as the problem.
He also defended his calls on governors and mayors to aggressively quell violent protests that erupted across the country after the death of George Floyd, boasting, “We’re dominating the street with compassion.”
During a roundtable discussion with police union officials and allies from the African American community at the Dallas campus of Gateway Church, the president acknowledged that law enforcement may have some “bad apples,” but he said it is unfair to broadly paint police officers as bigots.
“We have to work together to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear,” Trump said. “But we’ll make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely labeling tens of millions of decent Americans as racists or bigots. We have to get everybody together. We have to be on the same path.”
The president said the nation also needs to bolster its efforts to confront its long-simmering racial relations problems by focusing on inequality, redoubling on his contention that solving economic issues is the fastest way to healing racial wounds.
He said his administration would aggressively pursue economic development in minority communities, confront health care disparities by investing “substantial sums” in minority-serving medical institutions, and improve school choice options.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and senior adviser Jared
Unfortunately there’s some trying to stoke division and to push an extreme agenda, which we won’t go for, that will produce only more poverty, more crime, more suffering.
Kushner have been discussing possible packages with GOP lawmakers.
Trump, for his part, lashed at some in the Democratic party who have called for “defunding the police,” a broad call to reframe thinking about how communities should approach public safety.
“Unfortunately there’s some trying to stoke division and to push an extreme agenda, which we won’t go for, that will produce only more poverty, more crime, more suffering,”
Trump said. “This includes radical efforts to defund, dismantle and disband the police. They want to get rid of the police.”
Glenn Heights, Texas, Police Chief Vernell Dooley urged Trump to increase resources to provide police with more training. “We need training,” Dooley said. “This is not the time to defund police departments.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, dismissed Trump’s Dallas visit in advance as a “photo op” and charged that the president has “run away from a meaningful conversation on systemic racism and police brutality.”
Trump was also holding a high-dollar fundraiser during his visit to Dallas. The event for about 25 supporters was expected to raise $10 million to be split among his campaign, the Republican National Committee and 22 state parties, according to a GOP official.
Trump will hold another fundraising event Saturday at his private golf course in New Jersey.