A tempered Trump consoles in face of real American carnage
President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, on the South Lawn of the White House. Credit: Getty Images / Alex Wong
‘We are joined together’
“I think there’s a difference between being a candidate and being the president.”
That was press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ answer to a question alluding to Donald Trump’s freewheeling past pronouncements after mass killings.
This time, addressing the nation about the slaughter in Las Vegas, Trump did not get ahead of the known facts in casting blame or suggest he had seen it coming.
“My fellow Americans, we are joined together today in sadness, shock and grief,” Trump said solemnly from the Diplomatic Room of the White House. “It was an act of pure evil.”
He quoted Scripture and offered prayers. “Though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today — and always will, forever,” he said.
Trump will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with first responders and victims’ families. See Emily Ngo’s story for Newsday.
The take-away: A time to mourn
The president’s remarks to the nation were appropriate and palpably graceful — about as far from a Trump statement as we’ve become accustomed to hearing, writes Newsday’s Dan Janison.
He did not turn the topic to himself or his antagonists.
For the text of Trump’s statement, click here. For video, click here.
Not the time to talk about guns
Sanders said Monday that the immediate aftermath of the massacre was not the time to discuss gun control.
“Today is more ... a day of reflection, a day of mourning, a day of gratefulness for those that were saved,” Sanders said. “I think that we can have those policy conversations, but today is not that day,” she said.
But Sanders also dusted off Trump talking points. Strict gun laws in Chicago “certainly hasn’t helped there,” she said, and Trump “has been clear that he’s a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.”
Truce with Mayor Cruz?
Trump will travel to Puerto Rico Tuesday for a close-up look at Hurricane Maria relief efforts. His press secretary indicated he may be ready to move past his feud with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.
“She’s been invited to participate in the events tomorrow as well. And we hope that those conversations will happen and we can all work together to move forward,” Sanders said.
Not sore at Rex
Sanders said Trump has confidence in Rex Tillerson, though it didn’t look like it Sunday when Trump tweeted that his secretary of state was “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man” — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Sanders said “Now is not the time to talk” to Pyongyang about the nuclear standoff, though the U.S. is continuing to apply “diplomatic pressure.”
Discussions would be limited to seeking release of Americans currently held in North Korea, she said.
What else is happening
- In an October 2015, ABC News interview after a mass shooting in Oregon, Trump pointed to mental illness, not easy gun access, as the main culprit and added: “Even if you have a very tough system, you’re going to have people that slip through the cracks.”
- Emails from Paul Manafort after he joined the Trump campaign last year indicate he hoped to parlay the job to improve his standing with Kremlin-linked business connections, The Atlantic reported. Manafort is a key focus in the Russia investigation.
- A 68%-27% majority of voters in a USA Today/Suffolk University Poll say Trump’s call for NFL owners to fire players who don’t stand for the national anthem, and for fans to boycott games if they don’t, is inappropriate. A narrower majority — 51%-42% — say the players’ protests are appropriate.
- Who will replace Tom Price, ousted last week as Health and Human Services secretary for his profligate spending of taxpayer funds on chartered jets? About a dozen names are getting talked about, according to Politico.
- The Interior Department’s inspector general has opened an investigation into Secretary Ryan Zinke’s use of charter planes.
- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is not impressed with Trump’s tax plan after seeing an analysis from the Tax Policy Center. “This is a GOP tax plan? Possibly 30 percent of middle class gets a tax hike? I hope the final details are better than this,” Paul said on Twitter.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
