Trump's increasingly pro-police rhetoric could upend Congress' work on police reform

Congressional Republicans and Democrats will try crafting meaningful police reform legislation, but Donald Trump once again has cast himself as Washington's wildcard – meaning a single tweet could quell any deal.

The odds increased for an eventual package of policing standards and tactics changes on Thursday when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said his Republican caucus "conceptually" agrees with many provisions in a reform bill crafted by House and Senate Democrats.

The California Republican, who has been quick to dismiss most bills written by the majority party in that chamber, notably did not raise many substantive concerns with Democrats' measure. He told reporters "there very well could be" a package produced soon that Republicans and Democrats could support.

"I think there's a place where we can work together," Mr McCarthy said. "There's a lot of concepts that we agree upon."

In the House, negotiations will start with the Democrats' bill, which would ban choke holds and no-knock warrants in federal drug cases; overhaul "qualified immunity" laws that currently shield officers from lawsuits if their actions violated a citizen's constitutional rights but did not break federal laws; mandate new policies and training programmes to help mend relationships with the communities they're supposed to service; provide federal funding for racial bias training; and create reporting methods to highlight officers with questionable records or use-of-force incidents.

Senate Republicans are expected to roll out their version of a policing bill early next week, with South Carolina's Tim Scott leading the charge. He is the lone black GOP senator, and one of only three in the Senate.

The Scott-crafted measure is expected to ramp up funding for police body cameras and establish penalties – via grant cuts – for departments if their officers do not wear them. Federal grant eligibility also would be linked to new reporting requirements for officers' using force that lead to deaths or serious injuries.

Senate Democrats have signalled what Mr Scott is working on likely would not be expansive enough to draw their support, but members of their leadership have signalled they respect his efforts and hope his bill is an opening GOP offer towards negotiations.

'Anarchists takeover'

But even as talks ramp up on Capitol Hill, all eyes are on Bedminster, New Jersey – and Twitter. The president, as he has again and again when lawmakers say bipartisan deals are likely, seems to hold the cards that will matter.

And, as he has been in the past on major issues, the president is sending mixed signals.

He called video of Mr Floyd's deadly encounter with Minneapolis officers "eight minutes of horror." He has since, however, moved back to hawkish, pro-police force rhetoric.

"Seattle Mayor says, about the anarchists takeover of her city, 'it is a Summer of Love'. These Liberal Dems don't have a clue," he tweeted from his golf resort Friday. "The terrorists burn and pillage our cities, and they think it is just wonderful, even the death. Must end this Seattle takeover now!"

Mr Trump, at an event on policing and race relations Thursday in Dallas, said his administration is "working to finalise an executive order that will encourage police departments nationwide to meet the most current professional standards for the use of force, including tactics for de-escalation."

"Also, we'll encourage pilot programmes that allow social workers to join certain law enforcement officers so that they work together," he added.

But, make no mistake, his 18 minutes of remarks that made sure his views were the first to be heard at what the White House dubbed a listening session, made clear the president is in no mood for major policing changes.

"We'll take care of our police. We'll take, we're not defunding police," he said, taking another swipe at the "defund the police" movement that developed out of the Floyd protests from left-wing activists and some Democratic officials. "If anything, we're going the other route: We're going to make sure that our police are well trained, perfectly trained, they have the best equipment."

'Strong' but not 'abusive'

Mr Trump and White House officials have yet to signal whether he would accept much of what is in the Democrats' bill.

His top spokeswoman, Kayleigh McEnany, has called the qualified immunity changes proposed by the opposition party a "non-starter" for the president.

Brett Orrell, a former Department of Health and Human Services officials and congressional aide, suggests Mr Trump and lawmakers study what all sides of the political realm sees as a successful overhaul of the Camden, New Jersey, Police Department. That reform effort led to new use-of-force standards and more police officers, and a new union with revised terms, among other changes.

"The left and right can both learn from Camden. For the right, it shows that radical restructuring need not mean a 'defunding' that returns communities to a state of nature," according to Mr Orrell, now with the American Enterprise Institute.

"For the left, this experiment is showing that a police force can be strong without being either brutal or abusive," he added. "Further, it shows that police who understand the proper role of law enforcement can become a more positive force in the community rather than one that is in tension with the people whom it exists to serve."

After appearing to scramble to explain they view "defund the police" as meaning major reforms and some budget reductions, congressional Democrats avoided what could have been a trap. By doing so, they indirectly invited the president to the negotiating table.

But Mr Trump and his White House team are not even signing onto whatever Mr Scott introduces next week in the Senate, much less talking to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mr McCarthy. He seems, yet again, to be negotiating with himself about just what policing reforms – if any – he might support.

"Democrats are often on alert for seeming to cater to the most extreme demands of protesters, but there is some middle ground here and the public does seem ready for reform efforts," said Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "Trump does not really have any proposals to address these policing issues, and he is gravitating towards extremism in his own response. The public, so far, also does not appear to be siding with the president on this matter."

'Ramifications'

As nearly 70 per cent of Americans say Mr Floyd's death under the knee of a white police officers as others stood nearby show larger problems exist within American's law enforcement departments, the president and White House aides continue taking rhetorical steps away from the kinds of changes members of both parties in the House and Senate are embracing.

Asked if the president supports banning police from applying choke holds, Ms McEnany this week replied, in part: "What I would say is: Each issue is being looked at as to what would make a difference. Everything that you've suggested has certain ramifications, so he has to look at each of these in great detail."

Those undefined "ramifications" could squash a deal.

Mr Trump listened as black law enforcement officials spoke Thursday in Dallas. There was very little back-and-forth. He endorsed exactly none of their ideas for changing how they patrol and serve their communities.

One, Glenn Heights, Texas, Police Chief Vernell Dooley told the president there are "some inconsistencies in our procedures, our policies, our hiring practices, our termination practices, our disciplinary practices. And I strongly support the need for standardisation based on best practices for all police departments in our country."

The audience in the Dallas megachurch applauded its approval.

A few minutes later, Mr Trump said nothing about the chief's comments. Or those of any other participant, saying as he left: "Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you."

And with that, he was off to the interview with Fox News in which he said this: "We also have to keep our police and our law enforcement strong."

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