Trump insists he doesn’t want looters to be shot after Twitter flags his ‘looting leads to shooting’ remark

After being on the receiving end of a wave of backlash over a tweet that seemingly called for law enforcement to open fire on rioters in Minneapolis, President Trump took to Twitter and tried to explain that his words were being taken out of context.

In a series of tweets this Thursday, Trump slammed Minneapolis's mayor and declared that the "THUGS" causing the unrest are "dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen."

"Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way," Trump wrote. "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!"

The tweet sparked an uproar, and even prompted Twitter to flag the tweet as an incitement of violence.

Today, Trump claimed that he was simply saying that he didn't want any shooting to break out.

"Looting leads to shooting, and that’s why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night - or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot," he wrote. "I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means [it] was spoken as a fact, not as a statement."

"It’s very simple, nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media. Honor the memory of George Floyd!" he added.