On June 3, 2020, Mattis issued a statement to "The Atlantic" in which he criticized Trump and his policies during the George Floyd protests. He berated Trump for deliberately trying to cause division among the American people and advocating military action to "dominate" the country's protests. "Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society, and diminishes the trust and constitutional relationship between the armed services and the civilian population they support", he wrote. Mattis called for reunification among the people, regardless of the president, to preserve the welfare of society, and its future.