MELANIA/NATURAL DISASTERS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Friday [3-8-19] extended an unusual gesture as he sought to comfort Alabama residents devastated by a tornado outbreak last weekend — he signed Bibles. Trump offered up his autograph to first responders and survivors at a Baptist church in the eastern part of the state, after tornadoes left a path of destruction nearly a mile wide and killed 23 people last Sunday. After surveying damage from above in a helicopter ride, Trump arrived in Beauregard, Alabama, a rural community hit the hardest. Trump passed wrecked homes and fallen trees en route to the Baptist church, where he thanked volunteers and commented on the destruction…Trump also met privately with relatives of those who were killed by the powerful storm, including a family that lost 10 people to the tornadoes. Later, the president and first lady Melania Trump visited a memorial to the victims, pausing for a moment in front of each of the 23 wooden crosses lined up in a row.”
–Katie Galioto, “Trump signs Bibles during disaster tour of Alabama,” Politico, March 8, 2019 3:42 pm