Donald Trump wanted Black Lives Matter protesters outside the White House to be shot in the legs, according to his former defence secretary.
In 2020, the US president reportedly vented his fury in the Oval Office amid demonstrations in Washington following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
He said: “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?”, according to a new book by Mark Esper, who was his defence secretary at the time.
Mr Esper wrote that it was “surreal, sitting in front of the Resolute desk, inside the Oval Office, with this idea weighing heavily in the air, and the president red-faced and complaining loudly about the protests under way in Washington”.
Details from a preview of the book, A Sacred Oath, were published by the Axios website. Mr Esper’s account appeared to confirm previous reports that Mr Trump had suggested the military should intervene to quell civil unrest.
In another book last year, the journalist Michael Bender reported General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had argued against using the military.
Mr Trump was quoted in that book as saying: “Shoot them in the leg – or maybe the foot. But be hard on them.”
US Park Police and National Guard troops deployed tear gas and flash bangs to clear the protests outside the White House.
Mr Esper had already said publicly at the time that he opposed invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows for troops to be actively deployed within the US.
His stance on that reportedly angered Mr Trump, and he was sacked in November 2020.
Mr Esper’s book, set for release on May 10, has been vetted by the Pentagon and reviewed several generals.
Thousands of protesters, including Black Lives Matter demonstrators, had gathered outside the White House after the death of Mr Floyd.
In Lafayette Park, near the White House, there were clashes between protesters and riot police, with plastic bottles thrown, fireworks set off, and a fire in a church basement.
Mr Esper’s account of what went on in the Oval Office came as Democrat strategists sought to make Mr Trump the main issue in the forthcoming midterm elections in November.
Joe Biden’s low approval rating is stuck at just above 40pc, inflation is at a four-decade high, and the president’s legislative agenda has stalled due to bickering in his own party.
As Republicans look increasingly likely to retake control of Congress in November, Mr Biden is expected to repeat often a message that the Republican party is now the “MAGA party,” referring to Mr Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
A series of Republican primary elections this month are expected to show the level of strength that 75-year-old Mr Trump still holds.
Republican voters go to the polls today in Ohio in a high-profile primary to select a candidate for the US Senate.
Mr Trump has endorsed JD Vance, the best-selling author of the 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which was turned into a Netflix film starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.
On Sunday, at a rally, Mr Trump stumbled over Mr Vance’s name, saying: “We’ve endorsed JP – right? JD Mandel, and he’s doing great.
“They’re all doing good. And let’s see what happens.” (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2022)
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]