Washington-Sana
A senior US official revealed that President Donald Trump told his advisers last week that he wanted to deploy 10,000 army troops in the Washington, DC area, in an attempt to suppress protesters and end anti-racist demonstrations after the murder of George Floyd, an African American, by the US police.
According to Reuters, Trump's demand came during a heated debate in the Oval Office and it turned out how close he was to implementing his threat to deploy the army despite opposition from Defense Ministry leaders.
The official pointed out that the meeting witnessed differences of opinion and said that Defense Minister Mark Esber, General Mark Milli, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Justice Minister William Barr recommended not to deploy the forces.
The Washington Post quoted a senior Pentagon official who declined to be identified as saying: "It was clear to me that Trump was ready to use the civil disobedience law to send military forces to end protests last Monday."
Trump's hinting of the military to quell the protests has sparked widespread and unfamiliar condemnation from former military officials, including Jim Mattis, Trump's first defense minister and retired generals who usually try to avoid going into politics.