President Obama holds the executive post until Inauguration Day but chose to focus on golf while his colleagues ridiculed those responsible for the deaths of 12 people in Berlin and one in Turkey, Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov. UK Prime Minister Theresa May said the events "shocked us all" and offered condolences to the mourning families. Obama has remained quiet despite being briefed on the unfolding chaos on Monday.
Incoming President Donald Trump tweeted, "[the] civilized world must change thinking" in the face of ongoing threats posed by agents of terror. Trump did not let a relaxing trip to the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach distract him from the atrocities.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2016
Trump’s transition team released a scathing statement of the horrendous attacks. Daesh "and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad," the team said, adding that regional and global terror networks "must be eradicated from the face of the earth."
President Obama condemned "what appears to have been a terrorist attack" at the Christmas market in Berlin and spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to offer the America’s support. Trump has called out the Obama administration on numerous occasions for not attributing these types of incidents to radical Islamist jihadists.
