President Donald Trump on Tuesday personally addressed, for the first time, a series of bombings in recent weeks in Texas.
“It’s terrible,” Trump told reporters during a press availability with Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
“The bombings in Austin are terrible,” he continued. “Local, state and federal are working hand in hand to get to the bottom of it. This is obviously a very, very sick individual or maybe individuals. These are sick people, and we will get to the bottom of it.”
“We will be very strong,” Trump said. “We have all sorts of federal agencies over there right now. We are searching. What’s going on in Austin, a great place, a tremendous place, is absolutely disgraceful. So we have a lot of power over there, we’re looking. It’s not easy to find, but these are sick people and we have to find them as soon as possible. We have to find them, really, immediately.”
“I will say, working with Texas, working with the local governments has been great, but we have produce, we have to find this very sick person or people.”
The first bombing, which killed Anthony Stephan House, 39, occurred on March 2 in Austin.
Two more bombs went off in Austin on March 12, one of them killing Draylen Mason, 17. Another bomb exploded on Sunday in the city, and again on Tuesday in a FedEx facility near San Antonio.
The President, who frequently pounces on potential terrorist events, had been silent on the Texas bombings. Critics point out the majority of victims thus far — and all of them before March 18 — have been non-white.
