Trump's reaction to protests shows how he is failing as president | Annie Lewis

Talking to governors across the US from the White House, Donald Trump told them: ‘You don’t have to be too careful.’

I find it truly terrifying that the man who is supposed to be the leader of the free world is so willing to go against his own people.

What Trump doesn’t seem to understand, time and time again, is that when he represents America, it’s his duty to represent it all – including the black, Asian, LGBTQ and minority ethnic communities.

However, he is failing to represent them.

Desperate to keep a lid on protests which started after the death of George Floyd – murdered by a police officer who knelt on his neck for nine minutes despite Mr Floyd telling him he couldn’t breathe – Trump’s position during this election year has been weak, because he can’t juggle the resurgence of China and America’s inevitable financial crisis, Covid-19 and riots.

His answer is playground language, saying his governors will ‘look like jerks’ if they don’t get hold of the situation.

Just this week, Mr Trump walked from the White House to St John’s Church which was vandalised the night before. While the police cleared the streets for him to walk, Trump proceeded to say: ‘We have the greatest country in the world and we will keep it nice and safe.’

If America is the ‘greatest’, why is it failing to protect and support its very own citizens? If Trump plans to keep the country ‘safe’, does he mean safe for everyone who lives there, or just those who agree with his opinions?

The president has many questions to answer. But, as usual, he will probably walk away from a press conference or bully the journalists in a bid to own the narrative.

The clock is ticking on his presidency. When all Americans go to the polls in November, they will provide the answers as to whether they feel their president is making everyone feel safe.

Where on Earth are ministers getting these numbers from?

As Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s lockdown restrictions lift, citizens of each country can meet a different amount of people.

All countries agree on the two-metre distance. But in England and Northern Ireland, you can meet up to six. However in Scotland, you can meet up to eight from two different households, and in Wales it’s any number from two households.

Understandably, devolution has given first ministers the power to make their own rules. But why can someone living in Cheshire meet up with six, but across the border in Wales, people can meet up with an unlimited number from two households?

It doesn’t make sense to me.

Johnson thinks he’s won but we won’t ever forget this…

As new stories emerge, what all news outlets report changes. It’s natural for them to follow the most current story people want to read. C’est la vie.

But while the noise around Dominic Cummings – and his total disregard for guidelines that every member of the public had to follow for several weeks – seems to fall silent, it’s important for Boris Johnson to know that the public will never forget how he handled the scandal surrounding his precious government minister.

For Johnson, it may be a victory.

But for many, his victory has created a chasm of total mistrust in politics and highlighted the evident divide between the elite and the rest of us.