Trump’s response to the Rhode Island shooting? Confirming it happened and then it was back to regularly scheduled programming

With two students dead and nine more in critical condition, the Brown University shooting should be the kind of tragedy that stops a nation in its tracks. Unless, of course, your commander-in-chief has a really cool portrait of himself to show off, one that he hopes will get you in the festive mood.

Between the new Epstein files dilemma and nursing swollen veins because he’s shaken one too many hands in the Oval Office (that’s the official White House explanation for his bandaged hand, anyway), not to mention a Secretary of Defense accused of committing war crimes in the Caribbean, Donald Trump is juggling controversy after controversy like a… well, precisely like a reality show star turned president. And now that another horrifying mass shooting has taken place—this time at Brown University in Rhode Island—it’s the perfect moment for POTUS to revert to what he does best: making it about himself.

The shooting, which took place yesterday during a final exam review session, resulted in the deaths of two students. While this is just one incident in a long and relentless chain of mass shootings that occur in the United States like clockwork, what made this one stand out is the grim distinction of being the first mass shooting on an Ivy League campus in recent memory.

But fear not, people; the president is on the job. Taking to his Truth Social page shortly after the shooting, Trump assured the nation that he’d “been briefed on the shooting… the FBI is on the scene. The suspect is in custody. God bless the victims and the families of the victims!”

Except that the suspect was very much not in custody. A fact Trump had to clarify in a follow-up post. “The Brown University Police reversed their previous statement — The suspect is NOT in custody.” Which really doesn’t make sense. If Trump had actually been briefed, as he claimed, why was he just parroting inaccurate information that was already circulating in the media?

But never mind all that. In less than three hours, it was ancient history. Barely worthy of the president’s attention anymore. He basically treats mass shootings the way most people treat checking their email. Something to check off before moving on to the good stuff.

And the good stuff, in Trump’s case, was showing off a weird oil painting of himself surrounded by two Christmas trees, because nothing says “I’m taking this national tragedy seriously” like posting epic portraits of yourself to please the MAGA faithful.

To be fair, Trump did mention the victims again today at a White House Christmas reception (per CNN), noting that they’re “looking down on us right now from heaven.” Comforting words, even if that’s all the MAGA—and the GOP, for that matter—have to offer when it comes to addressing the epidemic of gun violence plaguing American schools.

Somewhere, a publicist is staring at a wall, wondering where it all went wrong.