Calgary Trump Shares Letter Saying White House Protesters Are 'Terrorists' | HuffPost Latest News - Action.News ABC Action News WestNet-HD Weather Traffic

President Donald Trump shared a letter on Twitter from one of his attorneys that describes the protesters outside the White House as terrorists.

Trump said the letter from John Dowd, who represented him during part of the Russia investigation, was of interest to the American people.

Dowds letter was in reply to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis , who this week said he was appalled by the use of force against largely peaceful demonstrators in Lafayette Square, across from the White House. On Monday, those protesters were forced out with tear gas and rubber bullets so Trump could walk to St. Johns Episcopal Church to pose for a photo with a Bible .

Mattis, who had previously avoided speaking out about his former boss, defended the protesters in a letter to The Atlantic .

The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values our values as people and our values as a nation, he wrote. Mattis also said leaders shouldnt be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers.

But Dowd claimed, without evidence, that the protesters were violent.

The phony protesters near Lafayette park were not peaceful and are not real, Dowd wrote. They are terrorists using idle hate filled students to burn and destroy.

Read the full letter in Trumps tweet:

I thought this letter from respected retired Marine and Super Star lawyer, John Dowd, would be of interest to the American People. Read it! pic.twitter.com/I5tjysckZh

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Donald J. Trump","author_url":"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump","cache_age":86400,"description":"I thought this letter from respected retired Marine and Super Star lawyer, John Dowd, would be of interest to the American People. Read it! pic.twitter.com/I5tjysckZh Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":585,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZs9PWbXsAA6foj.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Donald J. Trump on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268675068814659584","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"5ed9c2e9c5b612748cc65a00","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/donald-trump-protesters-terrorists_n_5ed9c2e9c5b612748cc65a00","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,politics,protests,jim-mattis,john-dowd","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"media,us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/0dcbbb15-0279-4b96-af98-d876a7cdabb7/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":9},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5ed9c2e9c5b612748cc65a00","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"relegenceId":2789214,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"Politics","slug":"politics","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/politics","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/politics","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/politics"},"relegenceSubjectId":982065,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Politics News","slug":"politics-news","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/politics-news"},{"name":" protests","slug":"protests","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/protests","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/protests","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/protests"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/protests"},{"name":"jim mattis","slug":"jim-mattis","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/jim-mattis","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/jim-mattis","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/jim-mattis"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Jim Mattis","slug":"jim-mattis","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/jim-mattis"},{"name":"John Dowd","slug":"john-dowd","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/john-dowd","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/john-dowd","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/john-dowd"},"relegenceId":3951019,"url":"https://action.news/topic/john-dowd"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

I thought this letter from respected retired Marine and Super Star lawyer, John Dowd, would be of interest to the American People. Read it! pic.twitter.com/I5tjysckZh
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020

Earlier this week, Trump attacked Mattis by claiming it was an honor to fire him last year.

John Kelly, who was Trumps chief of staff at the time, pointed out that Mattis was not fired.

The president did not fire him . He did not ask for his resignation, Kelly told The Washington Post. The president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused.

Trump later tweeted that he fired Mattis, but Kelly just didnt know it because his chief of staff was not in his inner circle and was totally exhausted by his job.

In 2016, Trump vowed to surround myself only with the best and most serious people . Since then, he has repeatedly attacked many of the people he surrounded himself with, including Mattis and Kelly as well as former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former national security advisor John Bolton, former chief strategist Steve Bannon, among others.

Support Free Journalism

Consider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.

Support HuffPost

Sign Up

Support Free Journalism