US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters
Trump: “I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world”
US President Donald Trump said he was not concerned when he was told about the shooting during a White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday. In an interview with American television CBS on Sunday, he also mentioned that the manifesto that the shooter sent to his family before the incident shows that he is a “sick man”, according to foreign news agencies.
“I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” Trump said in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes a day after the Washington hotel shooting.
According to US media reports, the perpetrator is 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, who was arrested after police said he fired shots near a security checkpoint during the event. He is expected to be brought to court today.
Trump also commented on the reaction of first lady Melania Trump, who was sitting next to him at the time of the incident. “I think she understood before the others that it was lightning,” he said, adding that at first he thought a tray had fallen.
He also assessed that the first lady looked “very shaken by what happened”. He described her as very strong and smart. “I’ve experienced it a few times, but she hasn’t in that sense. She responded very well,” he added.
The president also spoke about his initial reaction when the US Secret Service began deploying its agents in the hall. “I wanted to see what was going on. That’s when we started to realize that it might be a serious problem, a different problem,” he said.
The perpetrator’s manifesto
Trump also took issue with reporter Norah O’Donnell after she read part of a manifesto written by Cole in which he expressed a series of views against the president and announced that he would fire on members of his administration. “I am no longer ready to allow a pedophile, rapist and traitor to stain my hands with his crimes,” the manifesto reads, among other things.
“I’m not a rapist. I haven’t raped anybody. I’m not a pedophile,” Trump claimed, adding that it was written by a sick man.
Asked whether the incident, which occurred during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, would help ease his strained relationship with the media, the US president said he continued to have deep disagreements with the media. He added that he wants to repeat the dinner in 30 days and promised that there will be even greater security.
