Donald Trump has suggested that two gunmen who carried out mass shootings over the weekend were “really very seriously mentally ill”.

The president spent the weekend golfing at his Bedminster course.

He emerged to speak to reporters on Sunday afternoon.

“Hate has no place in our country,” he said. “We’re going to take care of [the problem,]”

The president then claimed the gunmen were “really very seriously mentally ill”.

El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Show all 39 1 /39 El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store CCTV images of the gunman identified as Patrick Crusius The 21 year old, as he entered the Cielo Vista Walmart store in El Paso. The gunman was armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on shoppers at a packed Walmart store, killing 20. KTSM 9/AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement agencies respond The Texas city’s police chief said the assault on a Walmart store on Saturday, which left another 26 people wounded, was being investigated as a potential hate crime. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up Shoppers exit with their hands up after a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 3, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Salgado NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. STRINGER Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store FBI released a picture of gunman Patrick Crusius The police officially identified the 21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb some 650 miles east of El Paso. FBI/AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman reacts after the mass shooting The attack came just minutes after a far-right manifesto appeared online. If authentic, it would make it the third mass shooting this year announced in advance on the website, which often features far-right and racist content. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement responds to the active shooter The racist four-page document, titled “The Inconvenient Truth”, calls the Walmart attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and expresses support for the gunman who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this year. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A shopper hiding with an old lady behind the return and exchanges counter as the shooting began. Aaron Castaneda/Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Ambulances in the car park near the scene It is ranked as the eighth-deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, after a 1984 shooting in San Ysidro, California, that claimed 21 lives. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Kendall Long (left) comforts Kianna Long (right) who was in the freezer section of Walmart. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store epa07755367 Police stand at attention after a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, USA, 03 August 2019. According to reports, at least one person was killed and at least 18 people injured and transported to local hospitals. One suspect is in custody. EPA/IVAN PIERRE AGUIRRE IVAN PIERRE AGUIRRE EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shopping carts sit next to a curb after the shooting. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso Fire Medical personnel arrive at the scene. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Walmart employees react after. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman runs to police near the scene. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Several law enforcement agencies respond. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People arrive at MacArthur Elementary looking for family and friends as the school is being used a re-unification centre. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Residents Erica Rios, 36, and Alma Rios, 61, cry outside a reunification centre. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People gather in Juarez, Mexico, in a vigil for the Mexican nationals who were killed. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A child takes part in a vigil in Ciudad Juarez AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Francisco Castaneda joins mourners taking part in a vigil at El Paso High School. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Presidential candidate and former congressman Beto O'Rourke, right, meets with mass shooting survivor, Rosemary, at University Medical Centre Beto O'Rourke Facebook via AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store From left, Melody Stout, Hannah Payan, Aaliyah Alba, Sherie Gramlich and Laura Barrios comfort each other during a vigil for victims of the shooting. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A sign is posted near the scene Getty Images El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Police cars parked below the Walmart sign block a road outside while investigating. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Sherie Gramlich reacts during a vigil. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A man places flowers at the site Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at the Walmart store Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Lupe Lopez holds a picture of a victim during a vigil for victims AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at a Walmart store, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ REUTERS El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Elsa Mendoza Marquez, a Mexican schoolteacher who was married and the mother of two adult children, was one of the victims Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People with the Mexican flag and the US flag take part in a rally against hate a day Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People raise their arms in the air during a vigil for victims AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react and embrace each other Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Women light candles at a make shift memorial at the site of a mass shooting EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Adria Gonzalez (centre) who is being hailed as a hero for leading some Walmart customers to safety, speaks to the crowd AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People hold up their phones AFP/Getty Images El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Beto O'Rourke speaks to the crowd AFP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react during a prayer and candle vigil organized by the city, after a shooting left 20 people dead at the Cielo Vista Mall WalMart in El Paso, Texas, on August 4, 2019. - A shooting at a Walmart store in Texas left multiple people dead. At least one suspect was taken into custody after the shooting in the border city of El Paso, triggering fear and panic among weekend shoppers as well as widespread condemnation. It was the second fatal shooting in less than a week at a Walmart store in the US and comes after a mass shooting in California last weekend. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty

He did not mention the El Paso shooter’s alleged links to white supremacist ideology.

“I’m talking to a lot of people, and a lot of things are in the works,” he said, in response to a question about gun control.

“We have done much more than most administrations.

“We have done, actually, a lot, but more has to be done.”

But the president is under pressure from Washington and Democrats, after the US was left reeling after the El Paso and Dayton shootings.

Democratic presidential candidates condemned the president’s racism and the failure to take action on gun control following the mass shooting by a suspected white supremacist in El Paso.

Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, who represented the district where the attack took place, said the US president bore some responsibility for the attack which left at least 20 people dead.

“He is a racist, and he stokes racism in this country,” he added. “It does not just offend our sensibilities; it fundamentally changes the character of this country and it leads to violence.”

Cory Booker, the first African American US senator from New Jersey, highlighted Mr Trump’s use of words like “infestation” and “invasion” as he accused the president of “giving licence to this kind of violence”.

“One of the lessons in my faith is that you reap what you sow,” the senator for New Jersey said. “He’s responsible.”

Bernie Sanders also targeted the president as he urged the US to “come together to reject this dangerous and growing culture of bigotry espoused by Trump and his allies”.

“Instead of wasting money putting children in cages, we must seriously address the scourge of violent bigotry and domestic terrorism,” the Vermont senator added.

“We must treat this violent racism like the security threat that it is.”

Mr Sanders also joined renewed calls for gun safety legislation following the shooting at a Walmart store on Saturday.

“After every tragedy the Senate, intimidated by the NRA’s power, does nothing,” he said. “This must change. We need a president and congress that listen to Americans, not the ideology of a right-wing extremist organisation. We must pass common sense gun safety legislation.”

California senator Kamala Harris urged the president to “have the courage to do something” and said congress should pass “reasonable gun safety laws”, adding: “We shouldn’t have to live in fear of mass shootings.”

Former vice president Joe Biden tweeted: “How many lives must be cut short? How many communities must be torn apart? It’s past time we take action and end our gun violence epidemic.”

“Time to ban and buy back every assault weapon in America,” said California congressman Eric Swalwell.

Targeting the Republican leadership in Washington DC, Elizabeth Warren said: “Americans shouldn’t have to live in fear that if they go to Walmart, or a festival, or school, or just walk down the street that they won’t make it home alive. This has to stop.”

As it emerged that the suspect – a white man in his 20s named as Patrick Crusius – had posted a racist manifesto online before launching the attack, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said the US was “under attack from white nationalist terrorism”.

He said the attacker was “abetted by weak gun laws”, and added: “If we are serious about national security, we must summon the courage to name and defeat this evil.”

“Our president isn’t just failing to confront and disarm these domestic terrorists, he is amplifying and condoning their hate,” he said.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was one of four female politicians attacked by Mr Trump in recent racist tweets, said right-wing extremists were being radicalised on social media.

“White supremacy has quickly turned into a domestic terror crisis,” she said. “They rely on you thinking it’s not a big deal. It is a big deal. White supremacy now makes up the majority of domestic terrorism in the United States. They radicalise online.”

The congresswoman added: “We can no longer bear to see gun violence and mass shootings continue as a norm in America. How many deaths to gun violence could have been preventable with responsible gun safety laws? How many children would still have their mothers? Enough. It’s way past time we act.”

“Video games aren’t causing mass shootings, white supremacy is,” she said.

“Sadly the GOP refuse to acknowledge that, bc their strategy relies on rallying a white supremacist base. That‘s why the President hosts stadiums of people chanting ‘send her back”& targets Congress-members of color.’”

Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman who survived an attempted assassination by a gunman in Tucson, Arizona, urged the president and Republican leader Mitch McConnell to call the Senate back from recess “immediately”.

“I have no more words. I only have anger,” she tweeted. “We cannot afford to wait another day for lawmakers to address this horrific national public safety threat.”