Mr Trump posed in front of a burned down camera shop with a man he wrongly claimed to be the business owner. Photo: Getty Images

The Republican president blamed "domestic terror" for the "destruction" in the Midwestern city.

Kenosha saw days of violence after police shot Jacob Blake in the back and left him paralysed on 23 August.

Mr Trump has been lagging behind Joe Biden in opinion polls, although some polls have tightened in recent weeks.

The president is pushing a campaign message of "law and order" - however, Mr Biden has accused Mr Trump of stoking racial division.

"Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting the flames," the former US vice-president said ahead of Mr Trump's trip on Tuesday.

A police officer shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back during an arrest as the 29-year-old tried to get into a car where his three children were seated.

What did Trump say in Kenosha?

The president visited areas damaged in the protests, including a burnt-out furniture store and camera shop destroyed in the upheaval.

"These are not acts of peaceful protest, but really domestic terror," he later told local business leaders at a round table meeting in a high school gym.

Mr Trump defended the actions of US police and accused the media of focusing only on "bad" incidents involving officers.

"You have people that choke," he said. "They are under tremendous pressure. And they may be there for 15 years and have a spotless record and all of a sudden they're faced with a decision. They have a quarter of a second to make a decision. And if they make a wrong decision, one way or the other, they're either dead or they're in big trouble.

"And people have to understand that. They choke sometimes."

The president also expressed sympathy for those hurt in confrontations with police, saying he felt "terribly for anybody who goes through that". But he said he did not believe there was systemic racism in law enforcement.

As part of his "law and order" messaging, Mr Trump said he sent the National Guard into Kenosha. However, in reality they were deployed by Wisconsin's governor and supported by 200 federal law enforcement officials ordered in by the president.

Mr Trump also said his administration would provide nearly $4m (£3m) to help Kenosha businesses that had been damaged in the riots and $1m for city law enforcement.

Demonstrators have accused outside agitators of violently hijacking their protests. Kenosha police said at the weekend that 105 out of 175 suspects arrested during the unrest came from outside the city.