Two sources tell NBC News that Pres. Trump personally called Interior Sec. Bernhardt and asked the Park Service to put back up the statue of Gen. Albert Pike – Washington, D.C.’s only outdoor Confederate statue, which protesters tore down and set on fire the night of Juneteenth.
The White House did not provide an on-the-record comment. But an Interior Department spokesperson tells me: “The Secretary has made his position quite clear when it comes to lawlessness, violence against police, and destruction of public property.”
Meantime, a senior White House official tells @albamonica that the president’s executive order on protecting statues and monuments will “likely be coming by the end of the week.”
