President Donald Trump arrived in South Florida late Friday to meet with authorities and first responders of Wednesday’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The president did not answer questions about gun control when asked by a reporter.
Trump went to Broward Health North Hospital with First Lady Melania Trump to meet some of the victims still hospitalized there. According to pool reports, Trump congratulated a doctor and shook his hand.
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A reporter asked Trump if there needed to be new gun laws, but he did not reply. He told hospital staff that their speed was an “incredible thing” and he wanted to “congratulate them” for their work.
“What a great job you’ve done, and we appreciate it very much. Everybody is talking about it,” Trump said at the Broward County Sheriff’s Department headquarters. “I hope you are getting the credit for it because believe me, you deserve it. The job you have done is unparalleled.”
According to CNN, a senior officer joked about officers needing a raise, which Trump agreed with. “Give them a raise,” he said.
Trump was joined by Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Rick Scott, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
“This is a community and a state that is a deep pain and they want action to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Rubio said at the law enforcement roundtable, according to pool reports.
The president replied, “You can count on it.”
Trump previously planned to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort. He was also scheduled to deliver a speech about his infrastructure plan in Orlando, but that was cancelled.
At first, Trump was not going to visit the hospital until Saturday, but his aides decided him going home first would be bad optics. Trump also said Rubio convinced him to visit earlier. “Marco said, hey, he wants to go down early. We didn’t want to wait. We didn’t want to wait,” Trump told reporters.
On Wednesday, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire at the Parkland high school, killing 14 students and three teachers. He has confessed to the shooting and is expected to plead guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Photo credit: YouTube/ABC Action News
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