President Trump did not ad lib the start of his statement, which addressed economic news, a White House official said. He insisted that it would begin like that.

In the words of one aide: He wanted to give the "full picture" of how he sees things — not only wanting to do Charlottesville in a vacuum.

A White House official says the President made the decision to directly address white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the KKK in his statement, but he was also advised to do so by chief of staff John Kelly and other officials as well.