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The tweet, sent from aboard Air Force One as Mr. Trump traveled to Texas, was the latest example of the president stoking racial division as he seeks to win over voters in his bid for re-election. White suburban voters, particularly women, were key to his victory in 2016 but are slipping away from him.

The remarks also came just days after aides had convinced the president that his best re-election strategy was to demonstrate that he was focused on a comprehensive response to the surging coronavirus pandemic. In recent weeks, as the president’s poll numbers have tumbled, some of his advisers have told Mr. Trump to try to convince a skeptical nation that he has been effective in managing the virus crisis and is taking it seriously.

Last week, Mr. Trump resuscitated the White House briefings focused on the pandemic, keeping them shorter and more focused than the ones he conducted in March, when he often rambled in his comments, sparred with the news media and engaged in fanciful speculation, including that injecting disinfectant into the human body could help fend off the virus.

He also changed his stance on face masks, calling it “patriotic” to wear one, and even appearing in public with one on. On Monday, Mr. Trump promoted what he claimed was quick progress on a vaccine during a trip to North Carolina to visit a plant working on one.

But since he took office, Mr. Trump’s presidency has unfolded along two tracks: the scripted one, which he sticks to for hours or sometimes days at a time, and the one guided by his own instincts, often revealed on Twitter. Mr. Trump has been more eager to talk about culture wars, and draw attention to images of unrest on the streets of cities led by Democratic politicians, than to stay focused on the virus.