America takes pride in its federalism It also takes pride in being ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’. They make the very foundation of the United States. A foundation that its own president has now put at risk. Trump’s response to the killing of a black man-George Floyd has not gone down too well with Americans.

The president first called the protesters terrorists and then he sent federal troops to battle them. This is the United States four months before elections. Protests have taken centre stage, and many are comparing the situation to a Civil War. This weekend was a particularly violent one.

Protests flared up across the United States. From Portland to Austin, thousands of people came out on the streets protesting racial injustice, police brutality and over policing. In portland, federal troops deployed tear gas and flash bags to disperse the demonstrators. At least a dozen protesters were arrested in Seattle.

Police claim that the demonstrators had attacked them with rocks, fireworks and bottles. Protests also spread to Luivil in Kentucky. At least 80 people were arrested for assault and disorderly conduct. Similar scenes played out at Austin, Aurora and Oakland.

Meanwhile, Trump said the city mayors had failed to rein in the protest and sent federal troops to fight the protesters. Trump deployed officers from the customs and border protection agency.

They are supposed to safeguard America’s border, and fight terrorists but here they were fighting Americans at home. The Federal troops clashed with the protesters. Unidentified officers began arresting people and bundling them into unmarked cars. While all of this is may be okay in authoritarian regimes, democratic America would have none of it.

Trump’s response to the protests only strengthened the cry against police brutality and it ended up sparking a fresh chain of protests. Trump reacted to this by sending troops to more cities.

Several US presidents have tried to secure their re-election by waging a war, by sending troops to other countries but Trump has waged a war against his own voters. He has triggered a stand-off between Americans and the Federal troops.

He has also put federalism and democracy at stake. But none of this seem to be earning his brownie points. There are just four months to go for this elections and both the scenes on the streets and the opinion polls are pointing against him.