President Donald Trump spoke out for the first time Monday morning about the Portland MAX train attack, calling the incident unacceptable and praising the victims for standing up to the suspect who verbally harassed two teenage girls on the train.

"The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable," Trump wrote from his official presidential Twitter account. "The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are with them."

Since the attack on Friday evening, which left two men dead and a third wounded, people had been calling for Trump to weigh in on the incident.

Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, was allegedly berating a Muslim girl in a hijab and her friend, when three men on the train -- Rick John Best, 53, of Happy Valley, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, of Southeast Portland, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21 -- came to the two girls' defense. Christian slashed at all three men's necks, killing both Best and Namkai-Meche. Fletcher was wounded, but is recovering in a Portland area hospital. Christian is a felon known for hate speech.

On Sunday, former CBS news anchor Dan Rather asked Trump to acknowledge the attack and bravery of the Good Samaritans.

"I wish we would hear you say these names, or even just tweet them," Rather wrote on Facebook. "They were brave Americans who died at the hands of someone who, when all the facts are collected, we may have every right to call a terrorist ... I hope you can find it worthy of your time to take notice."

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer joined those calling for Trump to speak out.

"I implore you to condemn this atrocious act of terror in the strongest possible terms," Blumenauer wrote in a letter to Trump. "No amount of comfort can be given to the families who lost a loved one in this tragedy. You have an opportunity, however, to honor these selfless heroes for showing courage in the face of injustice. You must condemn this violent act and encourage Americans to stand together against hatred."

Trump had tweeted more than a dozen times from his personal account over the weekend, focusing on his first foreign trip as president, the "fake news media" and Republicans' recent Congressional win in Montana.

-- Hillary Borrud

503-294-4034; @hborrud