Trump praises first responders in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — Solemn in the face of tragedy, President Donald Trump visited hospital bedsides and a vital police base in stricken Las Vegas on Wednesday, offering
prayers and condolences to the victims of Sunday night’s shooting massacre, along with the nation’s thanks to first responders and doctors who rushed to save lives.
“America is truly a nation in mourning,” the president declared, days after a gunman on the 32nd floor of a hotel and casino opened fire on the crowd at an outdoor country music festival below. The rampage killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500, many from gunfire, others from chaotic efforts to escape.
In Las Vegas, Mr. Trump spoke of the families who “tonight will go to bed in a world that is suddenly empty.”
“Our souls are stricken with grief for every American who lost a husband or a wife, a mother or a father, a son or a daughter,” he told them. “We know that your sorrow feels endless. We stand together to help you carry your pain. “
It was a somber address from a provocateur president who prides himself on commanding strength but sometimes has struggled to project empathyin times of tragedy.
His solemn words in Las Vegas offered a sharp contrast to his trip a day earlier to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, where he spoke of the “expensive” recovery effort on the island and highlighted the relatively low death toll there compared with “a real catastrophe like Katrina” in 2005.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump took a grim tour of Las Vegas, meeting face-toface with victims and first responders.
In prepared remarks, he spoke of the courage displayed by those who risked or lost their lives saving loved ones and total strangers. He described an eyewitness account of police officers standing as bullets slammed around them and trying to direct concert-goers to safety.
He described a military veteran who had rushed to the scene in search of loved ones, but quickly turned to helping victims, using plastic barriers as gurneys for the injured and frantically searching for anything he could use to make splints.
“The example of those whose final act was to sacrifice themselves for those they love should inspire all of us to show more love every day for the people who grace our lives,”Mr. Trump said.
The president spent about four hours in a city still reeling from the worst mass shooting in modern American history.
His first stop was the University Medical Center, where he spent over 90 minutes visiting with recovering victims, some severe injuries, and listening to their stories. While a serious visit, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said there was laughter and celebration in some of the visits with eight families affected by the shooting. Mr. Trump also met with about 100 medical professionals.
Ms. Sanders said the visit was a moving experience for the president, who stayed longer at the hospital than planned and amended his formal remarks after the hospital trip.
Mr. Trump said after the visit that he’d met “some of the most amazing people” and invited them to visit the White House if they’re ever in Washington.
Generous with superlatives, Mr. Trump also commended the doctors for doing an “indescribable” job.
Mr. Trump then headed to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police headquarters, where he met with officers, dispatchers and others who had responded to the shooting Sunday night.
“You showed the world, and the world is watching,” he told them, “and you showed what professionalism is all about.”
Mr. Trump did not visit thesite of the shooting, but on his trip from the airport, his motorcade drove past the Mandalay Bay hotel where the gunman fired down into theconcert crowd.