WATCH: Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters Gathered Outside the White House as Trump Prepares to Address the Nation

Washington D.C. police fired tear gas and forced protesters to disperse outside the White House minutes before President Donald Trump addressed the nation for the first time since the death of George Floyd.

Protesters a couple blocks from the White House were protesting peacefully until police started walking toward them around 6:30 p.m. EST. About 10 minutes before Trump’s speech began, police started to push protesters backward and fired tear gas at them to make them move away.

CNN’s Jim Acosta noted from the White House lawn that you could hear “bombs going off” minutes before Trump walked up to the podium. Bill Barr was also spotted watching the protests from afar before police began to move the protesters.

Trump’s comments are the first time he’s publicly addressed the protests following the death of Floyd minus a few dozen tweets lauding police presence and bashing protesters. Trump has pushed for “law and order” following several violent protests nationwide. His address plans to tackle issues of federal response to protests that first arose in Minneapolis.

Washington D.C. has a 7 p.m. curfew and its mayor, Muriel Bowser, is expecting several more days of protests. Members of the D.C. police department have shown solidarity with protesters, including a group of cops that knelt in front of Trump International Hotel Monday afternoon.

Watch above, via CNN.