On Friday, the first word of the arrest of a suspect in this week’s mail-bomb spree—in which explosive devices were sent to prominent Democrats including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as to CNN’s offices in New York—came from news reports midmorning. The suspect was a man in his fifties, who lived in Florida, these reports said, citing law-enforcement sources. News helicopters flew to the scene of the arrest, in a city called Plantation, and captured footage of a white van, apparently covered in pro-Donald Trump stickers, being towed away by authorities. In the early afternoon, Trump himself addressed the news, during an event at the White House. “I am pleased to inform you that law enforcement has apprehended the suspect,” Trump said. “These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country.” He did his best, however, to keep things vague. He didn’t name the targets of the mail bombs, referring only to “high-profile figures” and “a media organization.” And even as the news reports began providing new details about the suspect—his name was Cesar Sayoc, and his social-media accounts were filled with screeds against Democrats, conspiracy theories, and birthday wishes for Trump—the President said, “We will prosecute them, him, her, whoever it may be, to the fullest extent of the law.”

A few hours later, the Justice Department held its own press conference, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray, and other officials, to formally name Sayoc as the suspect, announce his arrest, and read the charges being brought against him, including illegally mailing explosives and threats against a former President. “We will not tolerate such lawlessness, especially not political violence,” Sessions said. Wray explained how analysis of fingerprints and DNA evidence on the devices had led agents to Sayoc. And he said that, while his agency was still trying to determine if the devices were functional, they were “not hoax devices”—they were filled with dangerous material. As for motive, the officials said it was too early in the case for them to discuss it.

Proper procedure and bureaucratic caution have never been impediments for Trump, but for the President, this is all a distraction. Friday morning, not long before news of Sayoc’s arrest broke, Trump tweeted, “Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this ‘Bomb’ stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows - news not talking politics. Very unfortunate, what is going on.” His supporters have spent the last few days proposing a conspiracy theory, with no evidence, that the bombs were part of a “false flag” operation to hurt the President politically. The tweet seemed like Trump preparing to endorse this view. But by the afternoon, his tone had shifted. During the event at the White House, a few minutes after his remarks about violence having “no place in our country,” he expressed dismay that his new proposal to lower drug prices had been overshadowed by these mail bombs. “We are reducing drug prices tremendously, tremendously,” Trump said, “and it didn’t get the kind of coverage it should have, because it was a big thing, but you know, they also were competing with this story that took place, that now our law enforcement’s done such a good job—so maybe that can start to disappear rapidly. Because we don’t like those stories.” Trump wants to move on. He doesn’t like these stories.