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Trump's church visit, response to George Floyd's death frustrates some advisers

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President Donald Trump’s bellicose response to the racial unrest engulfing the United States and his controversial visit to a church after the forced clearing of peaceful protesters have sparked divisions and frustration among some White House staff.
President Donald Trump’s bellicose response to the racial unrest engulfing the United States and his controversial visit to a church after the forced clearing of peaceful protesters have sparked divisions and frustration among some White House staff.
Trump’s focus on “law and order” to curb sometimes violent protests came after discussion among advisers about the best way to respond to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes in Minneapolis last week, senior administration officials said.
But the Republican president’s surprise trip to the historic Saint John’s Church near the White House on Monday, during which he held up a Bible for photographers and posed with staff members who all were white, drew condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, and rattled some on his own team, one senior administration official told Reuters.
Law enforcement officials used heavy handed tactics to clear the area of peaceful protesters before the visit, even though a Washington curfew was not yet in force.
Trump, who is running for re-election in November, has courted religious voters, especially evangelical Christians, as a key part of his political base.
He does not attend church regularly himself and did not enter the building on Monday, a part of which had been burned during demonstrations, or offer a prayer during his stop.

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