Facing another round of accusations of bigotry and approaching the one-year anniversary of the deadly white nationalist riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, President Donald Trump has in recent days gone on the offensive, arguing that he is the president of "ALL Americans".
In Washington, thousands protesting the white supremacist rally also are expected at numerous locations, and many plan to converge on Lafayette Park, before the organizer of the rally, Jason Kessler, and his followers arrive.
Rally participants are likely to be outnumbered by passionate counter-protesters.
Protesters march at Lambeth field at the University of Virginia, ahead of the one year anniversary of the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protests, in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 11, 2018. They stopped to pay their respects at the corner where a local woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when an OH man drove his auto into a crowd of counterprotesters following last year's rally. And critics said their delayed response contributed to clashes between white supremacists and neo-Nazis and counterprotesters.
"I think there's blame on both sides", Trump said. "But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides".
The president highlights at each of his campaign events the positive economic numbers for minorities under his administration.
The president is at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course, and isn't scheduled to return to Washington until Monday.
"These are intentional acts, even though people may not see the rhyme or reason to it", Malone said. "Our goal is to prevent that from happening".
Police will enforce a complete ban on firearms in and around the demonstration areas on Sunday, including for those with local permits to carry concealed weapons, Newsham said. This Sunday, the same group will be hosting another gathering in Washington, DC.
Trump came under heavy criticism, including from Republicans, for initially refusing a year ago to explicitly condemn white supremacists.
Saturday night's rally comes on the heels of the one year anniversary of the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
The city is closing downtown streets and public parks and restricting access to a downtown "security area", where visitors are prohibited from wearing masks or carrying certain items, including skateboards, catapults, glass bottles, bats and knives.
Several white nationalist leaders have disavowed Sunday's rally and asked their followers not to attend. Officials and law enforcement authorities insist that whatever happens, they will be better prepared.
In one of the most recent race-related flare-ups, a black former White House employee, Omarosa Manigault Newman, has written in an upcoming memoir that Trump was caught on mic uttering a racial slur "multiple times" while making his hit reality TV show "The Apprentice" prior to his presidential run, and that there are tapes to prove it.
"It's my town, and I'm not afraid", said Karen Walker, whose floral shop Hedge was open on Saturday even though she did not expect much business.
Other businesses have taken similar approaches and have said they will deny services to attendees of the Unite the Right rally.
The president's approval rating remains high among Republican voters, leaving most members of his party in Congress loathe to publicly criticize him.
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