Last Updated Jun 29, 2018 1:52 PM EDT
President Trump took a moment at a White House tax bill event Friday to mourn the five victims of the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. The suspect in those deaths has been charged with five counts of murder.
“Before going any further, I’d like to address the horrific shooting that took place yesterday at Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland,” Mr. Trump said Friday, in his first live remarks about the incident. “This attack shocked the conscience of our nation and filled our hearts with grief. Journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their jobs. To the families of the victims there are no words to express our sorrow for your loss. Horrible, horrible event. Horrible, horrible thing happened.”
“In your suffering, we pledge our eternal support,” the president continued. “This suffering is so great. I’ve seen some of the people. So great. My government will not rest until we have done everything in our power to reduce violent crime and to protect innocent life. We will not ever leave your side. So our warmest best wishes and regrets. A horrific and horrible thing.”
Mr. Trump’s event was intended to commemorate the more than six months that have passed since he signed the GOP tax bill into law.
“The economy is indeed doing well,” the president said, calling the tax cuts an economic “miracle.”
Mr. Trump has spent the months since December traveling around the country, touting the benefits of the tax overhaul in roundtable event after roundtable event ahead of the midterms. Republicans hope to use the issue to help propel them to victories. Mr. Trump has said he wanted to call the law the “Tax Cut Cut Cut Cut Act,” but decided perhaps that was a bit too “hokey.” The president has declared the tax bill one of the largest, if not the single-largest, accomplishments of his administration so far.
On Friday, Mr. Trump said Washington has tried to change “us,” but instead, his administration is changing Washington, quickly, and for the better. The next big task at hand, Mr. Trump said, is tackling trade. The U.S., he said, has been taken advantage of for far too long. Mr. Trump said the U.S. is a “smart” country again, not the “stupid” country that it was under past administrations. Canada on Friday said it will move forward with tariffs on Sunday, as the U.S. imposes its own.
“America First is very threatening to others. We don’t want to be threatening,” Mr. Trump said, adding that the focus is making America “great” again.
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