National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster tried his best to clean up President Donald Trump’s comments on a London subway bombing Friday, claiming that Trump did not mean to criticize Scotland Yard when he said the unknown suspect, or suspects, behind the bombing had been “in the sights of Scotland Yard.”
Trump’s tweet was largely seen as critical of the British law enforcement agency. According to the New York Times, 29 people were hospitalized after a crude improvised explosive device detonated in London’s subway.
Another attack in London by a loser terrorist.These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017
Asked about the tweet, British Prime Minister Theresa May said, “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.”
“Did the President share information that he was not supposed to? If not, why was he speculating?” a reporter asked McMaster at a press briefing Friday.
“I think what the President was communicating is that, obviously, all of our law enforcement efforts are focused on this terrorist threat, for years,” McMaster said. “Scotland Yard has been a leader, as our FBI has been a leader.”
“So, I think if there was a terrorist attack here, god forbid, that we would say that they were in the sights of the FBI,” he said. “So I think didn’t mean anything beyond that.”
