President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday encouraging police departments to improve training — a step critics say falls short of what is needed to curb police officers' use of force against nonwhites.

In a Rose Garden ceremony, which at times sounded like a campaign speech, Trump largely defended police officers, saying Americans "demand law and order.

The order will create a database to track police officers with multiple instances of misconduct, and use federal grants to encourage departments to meet certain higher certification standards on use of force.

The order also calls for police departments to ban the use of chokeholds except when an officer feels his or her life is endangered.

At least one family member reportedly skips White House

Before signing the order on Tuesday, Trump said he met with several families whom, he said, lost loved ones "in deadly interactions with police."