President Donald Trump tore into the Las Vegas shooter as a ‘demented, sick individual’ on Monday morning during a meeting with his Cabinet where he also unloaded on ‘obstruction’ from Democrats, welfare recipients ‘taking advantage’ of the system and health insurance providers relying on the Obamacare ‘gravy train.’
He also commented on the wildfires in California, saying they were a ‘very, very sad thing to watch.’
‘We also continue to pray for the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. We cannot erase the pain of those who lost their loved ones, but we pledge to never leave their side,’ Trump added.
The FBI and the Justice Department are working with local police on the crime, the president said.
‘I guess a lot of people think they understand what happened but he’s, he was was a demented sick individual,’ Trump asserted. ‘The wires were crossed pretty badly in his brain, and it’s a very sad event.’
Trump said that ‘in each of the tragedies we’ve witnessed, however, tremendous strength and heroism of our people…When Americans are unified no destructive force on earth can even come close to breaking us apart.’
Flanked by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense, Trump also hailed his Cabinet as having a ‘tremendous amount of talent,’ putting aside prior rifts with Tillerson and Justice Department head Jeff Sessions.
The routine gathering brought together all of the president’s cabinet secretaries, and most notably the heads of the Departments of State, Defense and Treasury.
It’s the second convening of the group since retired Gen. John Kelly stepped into the role of chief of staff.
With major announcements last week on health care reform and Iran’s nuclear program Trump’s deputies will have plenty to discuss. The dispute with North Korea over it’s nukes is almost certain to be at the forefront of their talk.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claimed Sunday in a dramatic interview that diplomacy with the rogue government is on the table ‘until the first bomb drops.’
President Donald Trump is convening his Cabinet this morning at the White House. He’s pictured above at a September gathering with his Cabinet secretaries at Camp David . To his right: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claimed Sunday in a dramatic interview that diplomacy with the rogue government is on the table ‘until the first bomb drops’
With major announcements last week on health care reform and Iran’s nuclear program Trump’s deputies will have plenty to discuss. The dispute with North Korea over it’s nukes is almost certain to be at the forefront of their talk
The claim sent a shockwave through Washington, where fears are mounting that Trump is plotting a war against Kim Jong-un’s government.
Trump has himself characterized the current period as the ‘calm before the storm’ possibly and refused to provide further indication as to what he could have been talking about.
He has also said that ‘only one thing will work’ when it comes to dealing with Kim’s government – a comment that was widely interpreted as a foreshadow to war.
In roughly two weeks, Trump will depart for Asia on an extensive trip that that will take him to five countries on the continent.
His second stop -Seoul, South Korea – will take him right to Kim’s doorstep.
Tillerson said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that the Trump administration has military options ‘ready to go’ in case they become necessary.
‘The president has also made clear to me that he wants this solved diplomatically,’ Tillerson said. ‘He’s not seeking to go to war.
The nation’s chief diplomat said the president wants him to continue talks, ‘which we are, and we will, as I have told others, those diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb drops.’
Trump and Tillerson have at times appeared to have to their wires crossed when it comes to dealing with North Korea.
After Tillerson said a dialogue was open between the two countries, Trump publicly told him to stop ‘wasting his time.’
‘Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!’ Trump tweeted.
Sen. Bob Corker has since complained that Tillerson has been ‘castrated’ by President Trump on the world stage.
‘I checked. I’m fully intact,’ Tillerson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday.
Tillerson attributed Trump’s behavior to him being ‘an unconventional president.’
‘And for people that have been around Washington a long time, this is a place that – you know better than I – you have been here longer than I have – this is not a place that likes to change. It actually enjoys that status quo,’ Tillerson continued.
Tillerson added that he was ‘fully committed to his objectives,’ repeating a promise he had made earlier this month after returning to Washington from Beijing and being confronted with an NBC News report that said he had wanted to quit and had called President Trump a ‘moron’ at a Pentagon meeting.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was asked about a comment made Friday by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in which the Republican suggested President Trump was ‘castrating’ his secretary of state on the world stage
‘I checked. I’m fully intact,’ Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (left) told CNN’s Jake Tapper (right) on Sunday when asked if he felt ‘castrated’ by President Trump’s behavior, which often seems to undercut him
He still wouldn’t fully deny he used the term during his sit-down with Tapper on Sunday.
‘I’m not dignifying the question with an answer, Jake,’ after several rounds of questions.
Tapper tried to pin Tillerson down on the ‘castration’ question too, pointing out that he owned cattle and had a cattle range.
‘You don’t want to say anything about the senator suggesting you have been gelded before the world?’ Tapper asked. ‘That’s not anything that bothers you?’
And with that Tillerson told Tapper that he had checked and everything was A-OK, causing the CNN newsman to laugh.
‘I did not expect that answer,’ Tapper said.
Tillerson and Trump had lunch last Tuesday at the White House. That meal was also attended by Defense Secretary James Mattis.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said afterward that Trump ‘has full confidence in the Secretary of State.
‘They had a great visit earlier today and they’re working hand-in-hand to move the President’s agendas forward,’ she said.
Of a suggestion from Trump during a Forbes interview that he’s more intelligent than Tillerson and they ought to compare IQ tests, Sanders argued, ‘The President certainly never implied that the Secretary of State was not incredibly intelligent. He made a joke, nothing more than that.’
After the NBC report Tillerson convened a press conference to say he was not leaving his post.
As rumors mounted last week that Trump and Kelly, his chief of staff, were fighting, Kelly dropped by the White House press briefing room to deny that he was so frustrated that he would leave his job.
Two cabinet posts are vacant as it is.
Acting secretaries will fill the Department of Health and Human Services seat, for which Trump has yet to name a replacement since Tom Price’s resignation following a private jet scandal, and the Department of Homeland Security, a post that Trump moved to fill Friday.
Trump tapped former DHS chief of staff Kirstjen Nielsen, the current White House deputy chief of staff for the position. She will succeed Kelly, the former DHS head, in the post if she’s confirmed.