As he conferred with top military brass at the White House over how to quell protests around the country, Trump said he wanted to make the walk to the nearby historic St.

John's Church, where a fire had been set in the basement the previous night.

In the ensuing hours, White House officials hurried to make arrangements for the evening event, which ultimately devolved into a discordant and violent spectacle, with federal law enforcement agents clashing with protestors in Lafayette Square, a federally owned greenspace north of the White House.

Barr and other top officials from agencies responsible for securing the White House had previously planned to secure a wider perimeter around Lafayette Square in response to fires and destruction caused by protestors on Sunday night.

Before walking to the White House, Barr told police to clear the area, the Justice Department official said.

Preparations for a speech

Meanwhile in the White House, staffers had begun preparing the Rose Garden with a stage, podium and teleprompters, even though it wasn't yet certain Trump had finalized his decision to deliver remarks or venture outside the complex.

After a morning that included a telephone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and a video-conference spent berating the nation's governors for appearing "weak" in the face of violent protests, Trump and his aides began considering a short address to precede the walk through Lafayette Square.

While it was Trump who came up with the idea of the church visit, senior adviser Hope Hicks, chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his daughter Ivanka Trump, were involved in the initial planning of the operation, according to two senior White House officials.

The final decision to visit the church came roughly five hours before police and military forces swarmed the park to clear out the protesters, though officials in the press office were not looped into the plan until much later.

I didn't hear bullhorns saying 'the President's coming.'"

A spokesperson for the Park Police said its officers were using pepper balls, not tear gas.

ET, Trump emerged from the North Portico of the White House, striding down the driveway and toward a cordon of law enforcement officers.

Mark Milley, who had been summoned to the Oval Office in the preceding hours to update the President on efforts to use the military to tamp down on violence.

A US defense official told reporters Monday that Esper and Milley "were not aware that the Park Police and law enforcement had made a decision to clear the square."

And the official suggested neither man planned to join Trump as he walked across Lafayette Square to the church.

"As that meeting concluded, the President indicated an interest in viewing the troops that were outside, and the secretary and the chairman went with him to do so.

"Yesterday was very much a presidential moment."

It's not clear if the President asked Pence to join him for the walk, but the two men had their private weekly lunch earlier the same day.

Even as Trump stepped out of the White House and into Lafayette Square, some White House officials insisted the maneuver was unrelated to his photo opportunity.

Some officials claimed the push was aimed at establishing a broader perimeter around Lafayette Square and the blocks around the White House.

curfew -- an explanation that strained credulity given security forces began to fire tear gas and rubber bullets to push back protesters before the curfew came into effect.

The officials could not explain why they needed to establish a perimeter in time for the curfew or why they did not do so earlier in the day, before a large group of protesters had amassed.

One White House official said Monday aides now recognize the operation to clear out protesters from the Lafayette Square area should have been carried our earlier in the day in order to avoid the chaos that erupted.

Milley, whom Trump claimed would be "in charge" of the military response, surveyed the scene like a field general, camouflage military fatigues and all.

Barr monitored events, first in person near Farragut Square a few blocks from the White House.