He blamed “domestic terror” for the violence in Kenosha and made no reference to the underlying cause of anger and protests — the shooting of a black man by police.
President Trump declared the violence “anti-American”. He did not mention Jacob Blake, who was badly wounded last week in Kenosha.
Soon after arriving in the city, a visit made over the objections of state and local leaders, President Trump toured the burnt remains of a block besieged by violence and fire.
With the scent of smoke still in the air, he spoke to the owners of a century-old store that had been destroyed and continued to link the violence to the Democrats, blaming those in charge of Kenosha and Wisconsin while raising apocalyptic warnings if their party should capture the White House.
“These are not acts of peaceful protest but, really, domestic terror,” said President Trump.
And he condemned Democrats for not immediately accepting his offer of federal assistance, claiming: “They just don’t want us to come, These governors don’t want to call, and the mayors don’t want to call. They have to ask.”
The city has the scene of protests since the August 23 shooting of Mr Blake, who was hit seven times in the back by police as he was getting into a car while they were trying to arrest him.
Protests have been concentrated in a small area of Kenosha. While there were more than 30 fires set in the first three nights, the situation has calmed since then.
President Trump’s motorcade passed throngs of demonstrators, some holding American flags in support of the president, others jeering while carrying signs that read Black Lives Matter.
A massive police presence, complete with several armoured vehicles, secured the area, and barricades were set up along several of the city’s major streets to keep onlookers at a distance from the passing presidential vehicles.
Offering federal resources to help rebuild the city, President Trump toured a high school that had been transformed into a law enforcement command post.
He said he tried to call Mr Blake’s mother but opted against it after the family asked that a lawyer listen in.
He later added he felt “terribly” for anyone who suffered a loss, but otherwise only noted that the situation was “complicated” and “under investigation”.
Pressed by reporters, President Trump repeatedly pivoted away from assessing any sort of structural racism in the nation or its police departments, instead blasting what he saw as anti-police rhetoric.
Painting a dark portrait of parts of the nation he leads, the president again linked the radical forces he blamed for the violence to the Democrats and their presidential nominee, Joe Biden, declaring that chaos could soon descend on other cities across America.
President Trump condemned unrest in Portland, Oregon, too — as well as an increase in shootings in cities including Chicago and New York — and tried to take credit for stopping the violence in Kenosha with the National Guard.
But it was Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, who deployed the Guard to quell demonstrations in response to the Blake shooting, and he had pleaded with President Trump to stay away for fear of straining tensions further.
“I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing,” Mr Evers wrote in a letter to President Trump. “I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”
