The entire nation is bracing for more violence following the seven days of protests that have led to scenes of police and protesters clashing along with looting and vandalism unfolding throughout the night.

During this unrest, Trump has vowed to send the military into cities that are unable to seize control of their cities, prompting the idea that he is escalating the violence rather than seeking to extinguish fears and fires.

Democratic leaders have been clashing as well, criticizing their own as leaders fail to contain the violence and destruction.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo publicly criticized New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York Police Department on Tuesday after Macy’s other shops were looted on Monday night. 

“The NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night, I believe that,” Cuomo said, calling the mayor’s handling of the situation a “disgrace.”

On Tuesday, Democrats condemned the police’s use of force against peaceful protesters in D.C., some Republicans have also expressed their discomfort. 

The street was cleared so that Trump and other officials could hold a photo-op outside St. John’s Church, where a fire had been set by vandals a night earlier.

“To me at a time like this, the president ought to be trying to calm the nation, pledge to right historic wrongs and be a steady influence. I don’t think he was last night,” Senator Susan Collins said to reporters on Tuesday.

“It was painful to watch peaceful protesters be subjected to tear gas in order for the president to go across the street to a church that I believe he’s attended only once,” she said.

Senator Ben Sasse in a statement Tuesday said: “There is a fundamental — a Constitutional — right to protest, and I’m against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo op that treats the Word of God as a political prop.”

Each day marks how either side will respond during tense standoffs.