At 7:11 a.m. Monday morning, President Trump made his first comment on the mass casualty shooting in Las Vegas, already the country’s most deadly.
‘My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!’ Trump wrote.
The White House told reporters that the president has been briefed on the situation.
President Trump has been briefed on the mass casualty shooting in Las Vegas – the deadliest in US history – and administration officials are figuring out if he should still visit Puerto Rico
President Trump made his first comments on the deadly Las Vegas shooting at 7:11 a.m., wishin his ‘warmest condolences and sympathies’ to the gunman’s victims and families
Eric Trump used the moment to pay homage to the police who ‘sacrifice their own lives every day to help others’
He also said his ‘thoughts and prayers are with the people of Las Vegas’
‘The President has been briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas. We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers,’ said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
CNN reported Monday that the administration is reconsidering whether Trump should travel to Puerto Rico Tuesday in light of the shooting.
Trump has been criticized for his response to Hurricane Maria, getting into a public tiff with the Mayor of San Juan on Twitter this weekend, suggesting Democrats encouraged her to act ‘nasty’ to the president and that Puerto Ricans ‘want everything to be done for them.’
Now he has a new disaster on his plate.
Early Monday morning, a shooter took aim from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, just off the Las Vegas strip, and rained bullets on a crowd gathered at a country music concert, killing at least 50 people and injuring 200 more.
The suspect is 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, police say, who had an ‘arsenal’ of weapons in his room.
Vice President Mike Pence put out three tweets Monday morning offering condolences and thanking first responders for their bravery
Paddock was shot and killed.
Eric Trump, President Trump’s middle son, started tweeting about the shooting Monday morning before his dad.
‘My thoughts and prayers are with the people of #LasVegas,’ Eric Trump wrote. ‘It is days like this that we should stop and thank all the men and women in uniform, who sacrifice their own lives every day to help others.’
After the president made his initial reaction, Vice President Mike Pence chimed in.
‘To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love [t]he hearts & prayers of the American people are with you. You have our condolences and sympathies,’ Pence wrote.
Ivanka Trump noted how Americans woke up to the ‘devastating’ news of the Las Vegas shooting. ‘Our collective hearts are breaking for the victims and their families,’ she wrote
First son Donald Trump Jr called the shooter’s actions ‘evil’ as he offered condolences to those affected
‘To the courageous first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery,’ the vice president added.
First daughter and top White House aide Ivanka Trump offered her condolences too.
‘America woke up this morning to the horrific news of a devastating mass shooting in Las Vegas,’ she wrote. ‘Our collective hearts are breaking for the victims and their families.’
Her eldest brother, Donald Trump Jr, took a harsher tone.
‘Our prayers and deepest condolences are with all those affected by the evil perpetrated in Las Vegas,’ the president’s oldest son wrote.