The protests, which have grown ever since George Floyd was killed during a police raid a week ago, have seriously come to threaten the president and his ability to lead the country out of the pandemic and economic crisis.

Now Donald Trump is trying to take command himself.

Military will be deployed in the states that fail to restore law and order. In the Washington DC capital, which the president himself has far greater power over than other states and cities, "thousands and thousands more" soldiers will ensure that the curfew is kept on Monday night, according to Donald Trump.

Unusual behavior

It happens that various presidents choose to use the military, primarily the National Guard, inside the United States. As in the case of natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina), or as now during the pandemic.

But this is something else. Activating the military to "dominate the streets" and "quell the violence", as President Trump himself put it, there are far fewer examples. The first examples that pop up in my head are fitting enough in connection with the protests following Martin Luther King Jr.'s death in 1967 or during the 1992 protests following the liberating judgments against police officers who mistreated the taxi driver Rodney King. The protests did not end immediately.

Posed in front of church

For President Trump, it was important to put weight behind the words that law and order should apply. He calls himself the "law and order" president. He ended his speech by saying “Thank you very much. Now I'm going to visit a very, very special place. " Then the president walked out of the White House, through Lafayette Park into St. John's Church, which burned in connection with protests yesterday.

The president picked up a Bible and posed briefly for the photographers. Outside, the protests continued.