WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is calling for an increase in National Guard forces across the country ahead of large marches expected this weekend spurred by the death of George Floyd, while Washington’s mayor publicly rebuked him over the military presence in the nation’s capital.
At a Rose Garden event at the White House on Friday morning, Trump offered praise for members of the District of Columbia’s Police Department, the Secret Service and the National Guard for swiftly clamping down on demonstrators in the city.
Protests reached an inflection point on Monday night, when officers from a number of law enforcement agencies wielded batons and chemical agents to forcibly clear an area north of the White House complex.
