WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will address searing anger over racism and police brutality during a trip to Texas on Thursday but his main focus is rapidly shifting to a more personal problem - his troubled reelection campaign.
The Republican has struggled to find the right tone to address the explosion of protests against years of police abuses and what many African-American leaders, and others, say is systemic racism.
That crisis, coupled with the economic devastation of the COVID-19 shutdown - and the fact that the pandemic continues to kill about 1,000 people a day - has left the country crying out for healing.
Trump, whose political style is built largely on fierce division and exciting his right-wing base, is due to address those national anxieties when he holds a roundtable meeting in Dallas.
The theme announced by the White House - "Transition to Greatness: Restoring, Rebuilding, and Renewing" - promotes the image of Trump as an optimistic, can-do businessman president.
"For weeks we've seen President Trump run away from a meaningful conversation on systemic racism and police brutality. Instead, he's further divided our country," Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday.
"Today's trip to Texas won't change any of that. President Trump is more interested in photo-ops than offering a healing voice as our nation mourns."
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