Trump Calls Governors Weak, Urging Them To 'Dominate' To Quell Violence

Updated at 3 ET p.m.

President Trump on Monday called governors weak and urged them to "dominate" to prevent further violent demonstrations following the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck.

Trump's comments came during a contentious phone call with state leaders to discuss the chaotic protests. Two people on the call briefed NPR of its content, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put out a statement that said the call was "deeply disturbing."

Whitmer said Trump told governors to "put it down." One person who told NPR about the call said Trump urged governors to send lawbreaking protesters to jail "for a long time" and he repeatedly told them to use the military.

"We have a wonderful military," Trump said, according to that source.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president urged governors to act and deploy National Guard troops. She said Trump used the word "dominate" in reference to the streets and keeping the peace, not regarding handling protesters.

"The president has made clear that what we are seeing on America's streets is unacceptable," McEnany said during a press briefing. "Violence, looting, anarchy, lawlessness are not to be tolerated."

Whitmer, a Democrat who has clashed with the president on response to the coronavirus, added of the call: "The president repeatedly and viciously attacked governors, who are doing everything they can to keep the peace while fighting a once-in-a-generation global pandemic."

In response, McEnany said she doesn't "know why Gov. Whitmer would be dismayed at the president telling governors to do their job."

One source described the question-and-answer session between Trump and the governors as combative.

"I've been incredibly concerned by some of the rhetoric that's being used by you," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, told the president, according to the source.

The president reportedly replied: "I don't like your rhetoric much, either."

The Republican president spent much of the weekend on Twitter decrying protests that turned violent as a failure of Democratic local leaders not acting aggressively enough in quelling them.

Protesters held large-scale demonstrations across the United States on Sunday, expressing outrage at Floyd's death and more broadly at police brutality.

In many cities, including Minneapolis, Atlanta and Seattle, some protesters clashed with police, looted businesses, and set buildings and cars on fire. Protests were also held outside the White House in Washington, D.C.

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