President Trump addresses Florida shooting during small business roundtable
President Trump on Friday addressed the deadly shooting at a Florida Naval base in Pensacola, saying he's spoken with Saudi Arabia's king given that the suspected shooter was a member of the Saudi military. The president made the comments during White House roundtable Friday meant to tout the administration's accomplishments for small businesses.
The suspect, who is now dead, was a member of the Saudi Air Force and an aviation student at the base, officials confirmed at a press conference Friday. Three others were killed, and several more were injured.
"King Salman of Saudi Arabia just called to express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies to the families and friends of the warriors who were killed and wounded in the attack that took place, just recently, just this morning in Pensacola, Florida," Mr. Trump said during the roundtable. "The king said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people so much."
Earlier in the afternoon, Florida gov. Ron DeSantis said he expressed to the president that Saudi Arabia owes a "debt" to the U.S. over the tragedy.
As the roundtable went on, Mr. Trump complained about American plumbing, saying water pressure in sinks isn't sufficient these days, and people need to flush toilets 10 or 15 times to be effective. Mr. Trump said he's directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to look at opening up water standards.
The roundtable comes as the House impeachment inquiry has intensified, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling on Democratic committee chairmen to draft articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump on Thursday.
"Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders, and a heart full of love for America, today I am asking our chairmen to proceed with articles of impeachment," Pelosi said.
The White House has until 5 p.m. Friday to decide whether it will participate in upcoming impeachment proceedings. Asked by CBS News how the White House will respond to Nadler's letter by 5 p.m., White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said the president's legal team is working on the response, and Nadler in her opinion has had a very bad week.
Pelosi's announcement is a formal indication the House will move forward with impeaching Mr. Trump after weeks of hearings. Democrats have previously insisted they had not decided whether to draft articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump, although many Republicans believed impeachment to be a foregone conclusion.
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the constitutional grounds for impeachment over the course of eight hours from four experts, three of whom testified to their belief that the president committed impeachable offenses in his dealings with Ukraine. The fourth scholar, called by Republicans, said that he believed Democrats did not have enough evidence to impeach the president, and were moving too quickly.
