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This comes as hundreds of thousands of people have been protesting this week following the death of George Floyd in the US. According to CBS News, the US President demanded ten thousand troops in the streets immediately during a “heated” meeting in the Oval Office on Monday.

Attorney General Bill Barr, Defence Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley all reportedly argued against the call.

Mr Trump then made contact with state governors, criticising them for looking weak if they chose not to call in the National Guard.

A Senior Defence Department Official told CBS News that the US President “yelled” at the Defence Secretary after he disagreed with Mr Trump.

Mr Esper, the Defence Secretary, publicly opposed Trump’s suggestion to invoke the American Insurrection Act which would deploy active duty US troops into the country’s cities.

On Wednesday, Mr Esper said in a statement: “The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations.

“We are not in one of those situations now.”

On Saturday, loud protests surrounded the White House in Washington DC.

This comes as the US President now has an official political opponent.

Joe Biden, the former Vice President to Barack Obama, won the democratic nomination on Friday night.

Mr Biden posted on Twitter: “Tonight we secured the 1,991 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.

“I’m going to spend every day fighting to earn your vote so that, together, we can win the battle for the soul of this nation.”

Mr Biden leads President Trump in several US national polls by a wide margin.

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The former Vice President had been the effective nominee since Bernie Sanders withdrew in April.

On Saturday, 150 active duty US soldiers remain on alert outside Washington DC.

However, most who were sent to the city were sent home.

According to CBS, the order to pull out came quickly.

The US Army Chief of Staff, James McConville told soldiers: “The last thing we want to do is commit active duty soldiers in our cities.

“Only at the absolute last resort. Only in the most extreme conditions.

“Those conditions are not here in Washington DC and that’s why you’re going home.”

He added: “The United States Army exists to support and defend the constitution and that’s what we do.

“And we protect the rights of the American people to assemble peacefully … to exercise their First Amendment rights peacefully.”

There have been 111,000 deaths from coronavirus in the US and almost two million confirmed Covid-19 cases.

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