Trump at Mar-a-Lago as thousands march in D.C. White House applauds 'courageous young Americans'

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Young D.C. marchers fighting for their future Tens of thousands swarmed into the nation's capital to march for gun control and ignite political activism among the young. Teenage marchers are pledging to vote in November for candidates that will listen to their cries for gun control. (March 24)

WASHINGTON — Some March for Our Lives participants in the nation's capital headed to the White House after Saturday's rally — but the main occupant was not home.

President Trump spent the day in Florida, including a stint at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, and by late afternoon had not commented directly on the gun-control demonstrations that took place nationwide.

Instead, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters issued a statement praising the marchers: “We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today. Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the President’s."

In addition to proposals to improve school security and the instant background check system, Walters also cited Friday's decision by the Justice Department to rule to ban bump stocks "following through on the President’s commitment to ban devices that turn legal weapons into illegal machine guns.”

Bump stocks were not used in the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead, an attack that has since launched a reinvigorated campaign for tighter gun laws.

Trump proposes ban of rapid-fire gun devices President Donald Trump says he's signed a memo directing the Justice Department to propose regulations to "ban all devices" like bump stocks used in last year's Las Vegas massacre. (Feb. 20)

Many of the demonstrators who passed by the White House on Saturday posed for pictures holding signs they had used at the march, ranging from calls for an assault weapons ban to denunciations of the National Rifle Association.

Some attached their protest signs to metal barriers placed on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House.

Jim Kearney, 71, a retired IT worker from Exeter, Pa., said he didn't expect Trump to be home — the president is a frequent traveler to his estates in Florida and New Jersey — but wanted to send a message anyway.

His sign read: "NRA Own$ Trump. Sad!"

Asked if the march would do any good, Kearney said: "Who knows? I'm just hoping that this is the beginning and that this will make a difference in November."

The president has commented on previous marches, in somewhat taunting ways.

Last year, after the Women's March during the weekend of his inauguration, Trump tweeted: "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly."

He later followed up with a more conciliatory tweet: "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views."

Two months ago, during a reprise of the Women's March to mark Trump's first year in office, the president was back at it with a somewhat snarky tweet:

"Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!"

Prior to the gun-control march, Trump departed Washington on Friday evening for a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate, the so-called "Winter White House" located in Palm Beach, Fla.

In front of the White House, Taylor Boone, 25, a nurse's assistant at a hospital in Blacksburg, Va., stood with a sign saying her brother survived the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech, but 32 people did not.

"Guns aren't worth innocent people's lives," Boone said. "The NRA has too much power over the people of Washington. I am so sick of it."

More: DOJ proposes new ban on bump stocks that mimic machine guns