"I just had the privilege of signing a very strong decree protecting American monuments, monuments and statues - and combating recent criminal violence," the president wrote on Friday. "Long prison terms for these illegal acts against our Great Country!"
The text of the law has not been made public. It is unclear how the order differs from the current Veterans Memorial Preservation Act, under which the President said earlier this week that he "authorized the federal government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys a monument, statue or other such federal asset in the United States with up to 10 years in prison. "
CNN reported that some Trump allies pushed the White House to take a stand - any stance - on the racial issues that are fracturing the country.
While some outside advisers have argued for an even stronger condemnation of looting and destruction of property, they concede that even a conciliatory approach that embraces the other side of the debate would serve the president better than his apparent refusal, as has says an advisor, "choose a path" and show leadership on the issue.
The external adviser said that the executive order of the monuments, which they pushed to the White House, would be a "symbolic step" towards raising the public order message which, according to some, was undermined by the failure of the administration to stop the destruction of the problematic statues and the failure to coax the state and local authorities to do so in other cities.
Trump has personally asked Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to restore the only Confederate statue in Washington, DC after it was demolished last week, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Asked about Trump's request to restore the statue of Pike, the National Park Service said: "It is the intention of the National Park Service to mitigate the damage to any statue, monument and memorial damaged due to a criminal activity. "
This story has been updated with additional background information.CNN's Kevin Liptak, Ryan Browne and Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.