President Trump mourned the victims of the tragic shootings at Brown University and Bondi Beach in Australia — as well as the killing of three US soldiers in Syria — during a White House Christmas event Sunday.
“I want to just pay my respects to the people, unfortunately, two are no longer with us, Brown University, nine injured, and two are looking down on us right now from Heaven,” Trump said at Cross Hall.
“And likewise, in Australia, that was a terrible attack. 11 dead, 29 badly wounded, and that was an anti-Semitic attack, obviously. And I just want to pay my respects to everybody.”
“It was a rough day.”
President Trump addresses the Sydney terror attack. White House
Speaking about the ISIS ambush attack that killed two US service members and one interpreter in Syria, Trump stressed that the country’s leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, “fought by our side.”
“I can tell you, in Syria, there will be a lot of damage done to the people that did it,” he said. “But there’ll be big damage done.”
On Saturday, a gunman opened fire at Brown University’s engineering and physics building, where exams were taking place.
Rabbi Eli Schlanger was one of 11 people killed in the attack. Facebook/Eli Schlanger
An unidentified man dressed in black had snuck into the building before carrying out the shooting spree, which killed two and injured nine.
Authorities have since detained a person of interest. A motivation for the attack is not immediately clear.
On Sunday, at least two gunmen opened fire at a Chanukkah by the Sea event at Bondi Beach, where hundreds had gathered to mark the first day of Hanukkah.
Police vehicles arrive after the shooting at Brown University. AP
One of the suspected shooters was killed and another was wounded, according to local authorities who are investigating whether a third gunman participated.
“To the nine injured getting well fast, and to the families of those two that are no longer with us, I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America,” Trump said.
He then pivoted to the attack in Australia: “We’re here to celebrate Christmas and to celebrate, and I think today we can first say loudly, we celebrate Hanukkah, because that was such a horrible attack that was a purely anti-Semitic attack.”
Trump previously blamed ISIS for the attack that killed three US personnel in Syria, which marked the first American casualties in the war-torn country since the fall of the Assad regime.
Three US soldiers were also injured in the attack. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claimed that the shooter in Syria was later killed.
“The attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell explained Saturday. “Their mission was in support of on-going counter-ISIS/counter-terrorism operations in the region.”
Key details about the attack are still murky.