In a one-on-one interview with Sinclair Broadcast Group's Chief Political Correspondent Scott Thuman, President Donald Trump acknowledged that he could improve his tone when addressing race relations.
"I think that tone is a very important thing and I try and have a very good tone, a very moderate tone, a very sympathetic — in some cases — tone," Trump said Wednesday at the White House. "I have to say, that probably if I could do anything, if I could have the time, if I had an extra ten hours or 20 hours in a day, I would love to say tone."
Critics of President Trump have accused him of being divisive in his response to the recent high-profile killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta as well as his reaction to nationwide protests against racial injustice.
Asked if he should do more to unify the country, Trump shifted focus to the economy.
"I think what I have to do is get jobs back," Trump said. He described his Tuesday meeting with families of victims of police brutality at the White House, which happened hours before he signed an executive order encouraging police reforms.
"I am empathetic," he said. "I feel tremendous sorrow and loss. At the same time, I have to get the economy going again."
In the renewed debate over removing Confederate monuments, President Trump's position has not changed.
"I don't like it," he told Thuman, referring to incidents where protesters tore down statues. "We have a very, very important heritage in history and whether things are good or bad, you learn from it."
Trump went on to defend the naming of ten U.S. Army bases after Confederate leaders, saying it was "a gesture of healing." Many of the bases were named several decades after the Confederacy lost the Civil War.
Top Pentagon officials signaled last week that they were open to a bipartisan discussion about possibly renaming the bases. Trump rejected the idea in a series of tweets and again on Wednesday.
"We'll see what happens but I would be against it," Trump said, connecting the names of the bases with 20th century U.S. military victories.
"We won World War I, we won World War II, we've done a lot of winning from these bases," Trump argued. "And I like winning. I like continuing to win."
In recent days, Trump revived his fight with the National Football League over allowing players to kneel during the national anthem and extended it to the U.S. Soccer, which issued a new policy last week allowing players to kneel. Trump said he was "very disappointed" in the NFL and U.S. soccer for changing their policies.
"There are plenty of things you can protest," Trump said. "I don't want to see people kneel for the national anthem, for the American flag. You stand, be proud, put your hand on your heart, salute if you'd like to do that. But you have to show respect."
The NFL's modification of its rule is seen as a win for Colin Kaepernick, who started kneeling for the anthem when he was a backup starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Trump weighed in on Kaepernick's future in pro-football. "I would love to see him get another shot, but obviously he has to be able to play well. If he can't play well, I think it would be very unfair."