President Trump responded Saturday evening to suspected terror attacks in London by vowing U.S. support and apparently using the incidents to bolster his legal argument for a travel ban into the United States.
Trump has tweeted three times since the first incident was reported on the London Bridge shortly after midnight local time.
“Fears of new terror attack after van 'mows down 20 people' on London Bridge …,” the president retweeted from the news aggregator DrudgeReport.com.
A second incident was reported in London shortly after the bridge incident -- multiple stabbings at the nearby Borough Market.
London police said about an hour after the attacks that they are terror related. They also said a third incident, in a southern part of the city named Vauxhall and thought to be connected to the other attacks, has been ruled out as a terror strike.
Trump later tweeted: “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!”
Trump's executive order to impose a temporary travel on six mostly Muslim nations, training grounds for radical Islamic terror groups, is being held up in federal courts and appears headed to the Supreme Court.
His most recent tweet was: "Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there - WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!"
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the incidents are being treated as potential terror attacks.
The White House said Trump spoke with May and personally offered his condolences for "the brutal terror attacks."
Trump also praised the "heroic response of police and other first- responders," according to the White House.
The incidents come nine days after a suicide bomber with apparent ties to terror groups killed 22 people and injured scores of others outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England.
Within minutes of the first incident, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that the president had been apprised.
The State Department said the United States "condemns the cowardly attacks targeting innocent civilians," which the agency understands are being treated by local authorities as terror incidents.
An agency spokeswoman also said the U.S. "stands ready to provide any assistance" and expressed support for the victims and their families.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement in which an official said the agency is "closely monitoring the ongoing situation."
The agency also said it so far has no information to indicate a "specific, credible terror threat in the United States."
Homeland Secretary John Kelly told Fox News said such a attack is "right around the corner" in the United States and that DHS and other domestic law enforcement agencies are working tirelessly to prevent another one here.
He repeated that the biggest threats remain explosives on airplanes and people in the U.S. being "radicalized" and committing attacks on American soil.
"I do toss and turn all night," Kelly also said.
DHS also urged Americans in the area to "heed direction from local authorities and maintain security awareness."
In addition, the agency is encouraging American citizens who need assistance to contact the U.S. Embassy in London and follow State Department guidance.
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