DES MOINES, Iowa — In the midst of his Cabinet deliberations, President-elect Donald Trump flew to Ohio on Thursday to meet with victims and families after the latest U.S. outbreak of violence, a somber duty that became all too familiar to his predecessor.
In Columbus, Trump met with those who had been attacked by a knife-wielding Ohio State University student and had words of tribute for astronaut and Sen. John Glenn of Ohio — “indeed an American hero” — who died Thursday at 95. Then he was off to Des Moines, Iowa, for the latest stop on his victory tour of states that helped him win the presidency.
“The script is not yet written. We do not know what the page will read tomorrow. But for the first time in a long time we know the pages will be authored by each and every one of you,” said Trump, who mixed in promises to heal a divided nation with boasts about the size of his victories, from the early primaries to last month’s defeat of Hillary Clinton.
Trump also brought Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad onstage and praised his pick to be the next ambassador to China, saying Branstad “knew how to get things done” and would improve “one of the most important relationships we have.”
In the middle of it all, Trump also made his latest Cabinet announcement, picking fast-food executive Andrew Puzder to lead the Labor Department. Puzder heads CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent of Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and other chains. The Californian was one of Trump’s earliest campaign financiers, and his selection brings yet another wealthy business person and elite donor into his administration-in-the-making.
Trump flew to Columbus to meet with several people who were slashed by Ohio State student Abdul Razak Ali Artan. Artan, 18, first rammed a campus crowd with his car before getting out with a knife and stabbing students before being fatally shot by police. The president-elect spent about 30 minutes with some of the victims and their families.
“These are great people, amazing people,” said Trump, who also paid tribute to the first responders who tended to the victims and shot the attacker. “The families have come through this so well.”
Trump met with the families privately and aides did not immediately provide an accounting of what was discussed. But, in his brief statement to reporters, he took on the role of comforter-in-chief, avoiding the inflammatory rhetoric that has marked his response to other attacks.
Immediately following the Ohio incident, Trump had tweeted that Artan, a legal Somali immigrant, should not have been in the country. And last week, in nearby Cincinnati, Trump said lax immigration policies enacted by “stupid politicians” led to the “violent atrocity.”
Later in Iowa, he did not mention the attacker but declared: “This horrific assault is just one more tragic reminder that immigration security is national security. A Trump administration will always put the safety and security of American people first.”
On his newest Cabinet selection, Trump said in a statement that as labor secretary, Puzder will “save small businesses from the crushing burdens of unnecessary regulations that are stunting job growth and suppressing wages.”
But his choice, cheered by some business groups, drew the ire of workers’ rights organizations and labor unions.
Said SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry, “Throughout his career, Andrew Puzder has shown he does not believe in the dignity of all work and has used his position to line his own pockets at the expense of workers.”
