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'Dominate them':US President Donald Trump.Credit:AP

Demonstrators clashed with police outside the White House for a third consecutive night as the unrest spread from Boston to Sioux Falls,South Dakota. More than half of the nation's governors have called in the National Guard to help quell the unrest,and at least 45 million Americans were under a curfew on Sunday night.

Some conservative commentators are urging the President to address the nation,but the White House press secretary said Trump is focused on the far-left"antifa"movement that he believes is behind the violence."A national Oval Office address is not going to stop antifa,"Kayleigh McEnany said.

A number of major retailers,including Walmart and Target,have temporarily closed their stores in some areas rocked by upheaval. In California,state government buildings were ordered closed on Monday"in downtown city areas".

Trump berated the nation's governors on a conference call,telling them to take back the streets and use force to confront protesters and said if they did not,they would look like"fools",alarming several governors on the call as they communicated privately,according to the officials.

"If you don't dominate,you're wasting your time,"Trump said,according to a person on the call. A second person on the call said Trump praised Minnesota Governor Tim Walz,a Democrat,and thanked Defence Secretary Mark Esper for his assistance.

The President told the governors that"you have to use the military"and"we have a wonderful military",said the person on the call.

Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois confronted the President over what he called “inflammatory” language.

“We have to call for calm,” said Pritzker,whose state was hit with a wave of looting over the weekend. “The rhetoric that’s coming out of the White House is making it worse,” he added.

Trump,who has rarely been so directly criticised during his coronavirus-related conference calls with the governors,swiped back. “I don’t like your rhetoric much either,” he said. He told Pritzker he could do “a much better job”.

Trump also mused about the Occupy Wall Street movement,saying it was a"disgrace"which was ended by governors and mayors being tough on it,according to two people on the call.

The President said that people arrested at the protests should serve a 10-year prison sentence,according to another person familiar with the call.

The National Guard said it had deployed in 23 states and Washington DC.

One person was killed in Louisville,Kentucky,overnight where police and National Guard troops returned fire while trying to disperse a crowd.

The Washington Post,Reuters,New York Times

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