- Trump said that America has 'a lot of mental health problems' in response to a mass shooting in Texas that killed 26
- "This isn't a 'guns' situation," he added
- Trump stressed his desire for fewer barriers to gun ownership and praised the armed Texan who shot the attacker
- The president was scheduled to speak to business leaders at the Tokyo home of U.S. Ambassador William Haggerty
Donald Trump said Monday in Japan that America has 'a lot of mental health problems,' responding to a mass-shooting massacre in Texas that claimed at least 26 lives.
"Who would ever think a thing like this could happen?" he asked.
A similar church massacre struck a Charleston, South Carolina church in 2015, just a day after Trump launched his White House bid. Nine people died in that attack.
On Monday he parried a question about gun control during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, saying that based on preliminary reports the Texas assailant, Devin Patrick Kelley, was a "very deranged individual" who had "a lot of problems over a long period of time."
"We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries. But this isn't a 'guns' situation," he said.
The president also reiterated his desire for fewer barriers to legal gun ownership, suggesting that he was glad an armed Texan shot Kelley, 26, as he fired on worshipers.
"Fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction," Trump said. "Otherwise, it would have been – as bad as it was – it would have been much worse."
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The president was scheduled to speak to business leaders at the Tokyo home of U.S. Ambassador William Haggerty. But instead, the occasion's energy shifted to the mass-casualty scene in Texas.
"This act of evil occurred as the victims and their families were in their place of sacred worship," Trump said in the morning to reporters whose video feed flickered in and out back in the U.S.
"We cannot put into words the pain and grief we all feel, and we cannot begin to imagine the suffering of those who lost the ones they love."
"But in dark times – and these are dark times – such as these, Americans do what they do best: We pull together," he said.
Trump told the American public that "through the tears and through the sadness, we stand strong – oh, so strong."
Japanese Prime Minister offered his condolences later in the day, saying as a bilateral meeting got underway: "I'd like to express my heartfelt condolences and sympathy for your loss, and also for those who lost their lives and those who were hurt in the shooting incident in Texas this morning."
This article has been adapted from its original source.
