Trump: White Nationalism Isn't Rising Threat

President Trump on Friday said he doesn't think that white nationalism is a rising global threat. "I don't really," said Trump when asked about the issue in the wake of the New Zealand massacre at two mosques, per USA Today. "I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems," he said. "It’s certainly a terrible thing.” Trump also said he had not seen a purported manifesto from one of the alleged attackers that is said to mention him, reports the Washington Post. A story at NBC News quotes the document as referring to Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose" while faulting him "as a policy maker and leader."

Trump, meanwhile, spoke to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday. "I informed the Prime Minister that we stand in solidarity with New Zealand—and that any assistance the U.S.A. can give, we stand by ready to help," he tweeted. "We love you New Zealand!" Ardern, for her part, said earlier Friday that the attackers went after their victims solely because they were Muslim, and she issued "the strongest possible condemnation of the ideology of the people who did this." (Trump offered his sympathy in an earlier message, too.)