© Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with industry executives on the reopening of the US economy in the State Dining Room May 29, 2020 in Washington, DC before protests erupted across the country.
In a series of tweets posted Saturday morning, Trump praised the agents as "totally professional" and "very cool" before warning protestors that if any had approached the White House fence, they "would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen."
Photos and reports from the Friday evening demonstration outside the White House show demonstrators confronting Secret Service agents and US park police officers, who were armed in riot gear and extensive barricades in the city's Lafayette Square.
The Associated Press reported that there were hundreds of people present, chanting "No justice, no peace" and "Say his name: George Floyd" for several hours before police forced them to disband by pushing demonstrators back and firing pepper spray.
Trump said on Twitter that he watched the demonstration from the Executive Mansion and saw authorities did a "great job".
Trump then took aim at Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who he claimed is "who is always looking for money & help," but "wouldn't let the DC Police get involved."
Bowser fired back in a tweet soon after, "my police department will always protect DC and all who are in it whether I agree with them (such as those exercising their First Amendment Right) or those I don't (namely, @realdonaldtrump)."
The demonstrators in Washington DC were just a few of the crowds that swallowed areas of cities across the US in violent protests to push back on the death of George Floyd after he was taken into police custody in Minneapolis.
Floyd's arrest was caught on video, which shows a white officer kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Officer Derek Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
In subsequent tweets, Trump took aim at the demonstrators, claiming without evidence that they were "professionally managed so-called 'protesters'" who "had little to do with the memory of George Floyd." He then appeared to reference a gathering of his supporters at the White House set for Saturday night, but did not elaborate.
"They were just their [sic] to cause trouble," Trump wrote. "The @SecretService handled them easily. Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???"
And back in the 90s I ran into Mike Tyson at a bar, he got mad at me and pushed me - I would've beat him to death but the fact that the waitress pulled me away.
This is me/trump: [Link]
RC