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On camera at an event unrelated to the White House, Trump condemned serial bomb shipments as "acts of terrorism."
But on Twitter and later in spontaneous remarks that reflected the polarizing nature of his presidency, Trump seemed to downplay the seriousness of the case. Suspicious devices had been sent to two former presidents and a list of his main Democratic critics.
And on a conspiracy note, he complained that media coverage of mailings was drowning Republican momentum before the elections in 11 days.
This was the last sign of the president's reluctance to set aside the policy to meet the expectations of many Americans with regard to the role of the president in this time of national anxiety. He passes motions but undermines his own calls for unity with political blows.
White House officials have repeatedly criticized the media for failing to adequately cover his conviction statements. But they are often diluted by more controversial blows that raise questions about the president's sincerity.
"We must never allow political violence to take root"
Trump appeared in the East Room of the White House in front of a crowd of black conservative leaders, shortly after the arrest of 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc in Florida, in connection with the suspicious parcels. The bombs were sent to targets such as former President Barack Obama, the home of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton, Liberal billionaire George Soros and the office of CNN in New York.
"These acts of terrorism are heinous and have no place in our country," Trump said, while congratulating law enforcement officials on their prompt arrest, as the first parcels began to appear. arrive on Tuesday.
"We must never let political violence root in America," he said. "I am determined to do everything in my power as president to end it."
Trump's remarks, read on a teleprompter, corresponded to a serious moment and would make it possible to make a comparison with the comments of a previous president at a time when Americans were worried about their safety.
But Trump does not intend to call the targeted people with homemade bombs, CNN told a senior White House official.
And he refused to mention the targets by name or their membership in a political party, citing them only as public figures, adding that the president rejected any suggestion that his own rhetoric could be partly responsible for creating a political party. political climate the packages were sent. He also noted that a media organization had received a bomb, but did not specify that it was CNN.
"But the bottom line is that Americans must unify and show the world that we are united in peace, love and harmony as fellow Americans." ", said Trump at the White House. "There is no country like our country, and every day we show the world how great we are."
His unifying, high tone contrasted sharply with his attitude to the case where he did not read a script.
Earlier, in a tweet, the president had seemed to believe in conservative media reports that media attention on bomb shipments was deliberately designed to undermine GOP prospects at the polls in 11 days.
"Republicans are doing so well at early voting and at the polls, and now this" bomb "is happening and the dynamics are slowing down dramatically – the news is not about politics." "Very unfortunate, what's going on. go vote! " Trump tweeted.
Political message
Trump has repeatedly tried to frame the last days of the election around an inflammatory message on immigration and a caravan of Central American migrants who is moving slowly towards the United States to Mexico and is currently about 1,000 miles from the border.
But his political strategy was disrupted by the general media coverage of the fallout of the suspicious devices, most of which were discovered on Friday.
His tweet and the use of quotation marks around the word "bomb" raised questions about whether he already knew that the devices were not meant to explode, an information that would It is not yet public, and he used this knowledge to influence the political consequences of the episode and minimize the widespread anxiety caused by those who sent the packages.
Sarah Sanders, a spokeswoman for the White House, said earlier that the president was constantly informed of the latest developments in the case.
Later during his White House event, Trump attacked what he called "false polls" and members of the crowd gathered in the East Hall responded with exclamations of " false information "and" CNN, it's void ".
He also issued a new complaint stating that his mid-term political initiatives are overshadowed by the coverage of suspicious packages.
Trump said that there had been a "big, big" announcement on Thursday on the price reduction of drugs, but "she did not get the type of coverage that she should have because it was a big deal. "
"But … we are competing with this story that has happened now – our law enforcement agencies have done such a good job – so maybe it can start to disappear quickly because we are not doing it right now. do not like these stories. "
Kaitlan Collins from CNN contributed to this report.
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