Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday that President Donald Trump called him over the weekend to discuss the arson attack on the governor’s home in Harrisburg roughly a week after the incident.
Shapiro said that Trump called Saturday morning and that he was “very gracious.”
“I appreciated that the president called me,” Shapiro, a Democrat, told reporters at the annual Easter Egg Hunt in Harrisburg, held at the Governor’s Residence. “I actually didn’t take his call because it came from his cellphone and I didn’t have that number in my phone, so I didn’t know who it was. As soon as I heard his message, I called him right back.”
“He was very gracious,” Shapiro said, adding that Trump asked about his wife and children as they “talked for a couple minutes about what transpired at the residence.”
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The six days between the April 13 arson attack and Trump’s call contrasted sharply with Shapiro’s efforts in the immediate aftermath of attempt on Trump’s life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
Shapiro swiftly condemned the assassination attempt, calling violence against any political party or leader “absolutely unacceptable” on social media the day of the shooting. He also worked with law enforcement and called the Trump campaign, though he did not speak with Trump directly.
Shapiro’s home sustained significant damage this month after a man allegedly broke into the governor’s residence while Shapiro and his family were inside and used Molotov cocktails to start multiple fires.
Trump did not forcefully condemn the attack, even as others in his administration and prominent Republicans publicly commented on it.
Asked whether a motive in the attack had been identified, Trump said last week that he had not heard about one, adding that the attacker “was not a fan of Trump.”
“He’s probably just a whack job. And certainly a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen,” Trump said at the time.
Shapiro said Tuesday that his call with Trump lasted close to 20 minutes and that they spoke about “a whole host of other topics” besides the arson attack.
“He’s attuned to the issues that are important to me,” Shapiro said, adding that he knows “the issues that are important to him.”
Shapiro on Tuesday talked about one of those issues — tariffs — saying he hopes Trump “will re-adjust his tariff plan to make Americans and companies confident in investing in capital again.”
“I’ve been critical of these tariffs because they’re going to drive up prices, and we’re already seeing that. And because it’s going to have companies and individuals, families, keep their capital in their pockets because they’re worried about the future, and with the uncertainty and the chaos that these tariffs bring, it’s going to be more capital staying on the sidelines,” he said.