--- title: Donald Trump Florida School Shooting: Read President's Speech description: President Trump offered comforting words but no policy prescriptions one day after a deadly school shooting in Florida. canonical: https://time.com/5160126/donald-trump-florida-shooting-speech-transcript/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-15T16:51:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T11:37:38.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read President Trump's Reaction to Deadly Florida School Shooting og:description: "We are here for you, whatever you need, whatever we can do, to ease your pain." og:url: https://time.com/5160126/donald-trump-florida-shooting-speech-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb25d88c72026fa97/698927cc0a4a226ee29d1ca8/gettyimages-918637626.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. President Donald Trump departs after delivering remarks about the shooting yesterday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, at the White House on February 15, 2018 in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read President Trump's Reaction to Deadly Florida School Shooting twitter:description: "We are here for you, whatever you need, whatever we can do, to ease your pain." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb25d88c72026fa97/698927cc0a4a226ee29d1ca8/gettyimages-918637626.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'No Child Should Be in Danger.' Read President Trump's Reaction to Deadly Florida School Shooting  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:37 AM UTCPublished: Feb 15, 2018 4:51 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump departs after delivering remarks about the shooting yesterday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, at the White House on February 15, 2018 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump departs after delivering remarks about the shooting yesterday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, at the White House on February 15, 2018 in Washington, DC.Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:37 AM UTCPublished: Feb 15, 2018 4:51 PM UTC President Trump offered comforting words but no policy prescriptions when he addressed a grieving nation the day after a deadly school shooting in Florida. “To every parent, teacher, and child who is hurting so badly, we are here for you, whatever you need, whatever we can do, to ease your pain,” Trump said Thursday morning. “We are all joined together as one American family, and your suffering is our burden also.” “No child,” he added, “no teacher, should ever be in danger in an American school.” [17 people were killed](http://time.com/5158678/what-to-know-about-the-active-shooter-situation-at-florida-high-school/?xid=homepage) at [Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School](http://time.com/5158804/marjory-stoneman-douglas-high-school-shooting/) in Parkland, Florida, on Wednesday when a former student opened fire on campus. It was the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 massacre at [Sandy Hook Elementary School](http://time.com/3449676/the-story-behind-the-iconic-photograph-from-sandy-hook/) in Newtown, Connecticut, which killed 20 children and six adults. Trump’s statement came a few hours after he tweeted that the gunman—identified by the Broward County Sheriff’s office as [19-year-old Nikolas Cruz](http://time.com/5159134/who-is-the-florida-shooter-parkland-nicolas-cruz/) — was “mentally disturbed,” and those who knew him should have reported him to the authorities. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/964110212885106689) During his speech, Trump said the country needs to “tackle the difficult issue of mental health.” But he notably did not mention guns or gun control in the entirety of the roughly 6.5-minute statement. In the wake of past mass shootings, Trump has [criticized talking about politics or gun policy](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lasvegas-shooting-trump/trump-says-gun-control-debate-not-for-now-in-wake-of-las-vegas-shooting-idUSKCN1C82TA) as a reaction to the tragedy. He said Thursday that he will plan a trip to Parkland, Florida and called for decisive steps to be taken after the shooting, but he did not elaborate on what the solutions might be. “It is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference,” Trump said. “We must actually make that difference.” Read a transcript of Trump’s remarks below. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5160126/donald-trump-florida-shooting-speech-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5160126/donald-trump-florida-shooting-speech-transcript/"},"headline":"'No Child Should Be in Danger.' 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