Donald Trump has likened life in Democrat-run cities with large black populations to “living in hell”.
In an interview with Fox News, the US president claimed that many African-American people "thank him" for his tough stance on crime.
The US president has spoken of taking a “law and order” approach to unrest in the country amid heated protests over racism and police brutality, sparked by the death of George Floyd.
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The cities are all Democrat-led and have a high – or majority – percentage of black residents.
The president told the host: "Everyone gets upset when I say it – they say 'Oh, that's a racist statement.
"It's not racist,” he said.
“Frankly, black people come up to me and say 'Thank you sir for saying it.'
“They want help. These cities, it's like living in Hell."
During the broadcast Mr Trump called for support for his hard-line tactics for tackling problems in towns and areas which have seen widespread disorder.
"If we are going to become a more perfect union, if we really want to pursue happiness, we first have to have law and order," he said.
Earlier this week, Mr Trump called for a constitutional ban on burning the US flag and announced that anyone vandalising the monuments could now face 10 years in jail.
