Trump says if Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims 'had protection inside, the results would have been far better'


Asked whether Saturday's deadly shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue would prompt him to rethink gun policy, President Trump suggested fewer people would have been killed had they been armed or guarded at worship.
"Well, again, this has little to do with it, if you take a look — if they had protection inside [the synagogue], the results would have been far better," he said. "This is a dispute that will always exist, I suspect, but if they had some kind of a protection inside the temple, maybe it could have been a very much different situation. They didn't."
Trump has previously argued teachers should be trained and armed so they can take on would-be school shooters.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Later Saturday, Trump offered different remarks. "This evil anti-Semitic attack is an attack on all of us; it is an assault on humanity," he said at a rally in Illinois. "The scourge of anti-Semitism cannot be ignored, cannot be tolerated, and it cannot be allowed to continue. ... It must be confronted and condemned everywhere it rears its very ugly head."
Watch a clip of Trump's "protection" comments below. Bonnie Kristian
This is a breaking news story and has been updated throughout.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Quiz of The Week: 5 - 11 April
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A botanical trap, a pair of puppies, and more
By Anahi Valenzuela, The Week US Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: Can we really 'de-extinct' prehistoric animals?
Podcast Plus, will womb transplants transform fertility? And why are prices falling in the art market?
By The Week UK Published
-
Two judges bar war-powers deportations
Speed Read The Trump administration was blocked from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport more alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pauses some tariffs but ramps up China tax
Speed Read The president suspended most 'reciprocal' tariffs for 90 days and raised his tariffs for China to 125%
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine nabs first Chinese troops in Russia war
Speed Read Ukraine claims to have f two Chinese men fighting for Russia
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
IRS chief resigning after ICE deal on taxpayer data
Speed Read Several IRS officials are stepping down after the tax agency is forced to share protected taxpayer records to further Trump's deportation drive
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Musk and Navarro feud as Trump's trade war escalates
Speed Read The spat between DOGE chief Elon Musk and Trump's top trade adviser Peter Navarro suggests divisions within the president's MAGA coalition
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, China up trade war risks with tariff threats
Speed Read China said it would 'fight to the end' after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court gives Trump 2 deportation wins
Speed Read The court ruled that the Trump administration could continue to deport Venezuelan migrants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge orders US to recall deported migrant
Speed Read The Trump administration has been ordered to retrieve one of the migrants it sent to a prison in El Salvador due to an 'administrative error'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published