"What do you think they [protesters] want?" Harris Faulkner of Fox News asked the president. "What do you think they need, right now, from you?"
Here was Trump's answer, verbatim:
"Protesters for different reasons. You're protesting also because, you know, they just didn't know. I've watch - I watched very closely. Why are you here? They really weren't able to say, but they were there for a reason, perhaps.
"But a lot of them really were there because they're following the crowd. A lot of them were there because what we witnessed was a terrible thing. What we saw was a terrible thing. And we've seen it over the years. We haven't, you know, this was one horrible example, but you've seen other terrible examples. You know that better than anybody who would know it. And I know it. I've seen it, too. I've seen it before I was president. I've seen it. I think it's a shame. I think it's a disgrace. And it's got to stop."
Edit: This quote was from 2020
Turns out it was from 2020, but that doesn't alter my take much. As presented to me I didn't recognize that. Post now edited.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/12/trump-george-floyd-protesters-315532
Thanks, totally also applies at the current situation. He doesn't seem to care much.