This photo of Trump 's notes captures his empathy deficit better than anything
President Trump  held a worthwhile listening session Wednesday featuring a range of views on how to combat gun violence in schools. And while  Trump 's at-times-meandering comments about arming teachers will certainly raise eyebrows  for the most part  he  did listen.
Washington Post photographer Ricky Carioti captured this image of  Trump 's notes:
 President Trump  holds a card with talking points during a listening session with high school students and teachers on gun violence on Wednesday  Feb. 21  2018. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
Yep  right there at No. 5 is a talking point about telling those present that  he  was actually listening to them. After what appear to be four questions  he  planned to ask those assembled  No. 5 is an apparent reminder for  Trump  to tell people  âI hear you.â
Even No. 1 is basically a reminder that  Trump  should empathize. âWhat would you most want me to know about your experience?â the card reads. So two-fifths of this card is dedicated to making sure the president of the United States assured those assembled that he was interested in what they had to say and their vantage points.
That's at once pretty striking for a president and not at all striking for  Trump . Through tragedy after tragedy  empathy has been the quality clearly missing from  Trump 's reactions. He has focused on first-responders rather than victims. He has joked around when he probably should have been somber. He has attacked a political leader who wasn't appreciative enough. Through it all  it's been clear that expressing that he feels others' pain just isn't his strength.
[TGT] held a worthwhile listening session Wednesday featuring a range of views on how to combat gun violence in schools. And while   [TGT]  's at-times-meandering comments about arming teachers will certainly raise eyebrows  for the most part   [TGT]   did listen.
Washington Post photographer Ricky Carioti captured this image of  Trump 's notes:
  [TGT] holds a card with talking points during a listening session with high school students and teachers on gun violence on Wednesday  Feb. 21  2018. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
Yep  right there at No. 5 is a talking point about telling those present that  he  was actually listening to them. After what appear to be four questions  he  planned to ask those assembled  No. 5 is an apparent reminder for   [TGT] to tell people  âI hear you.â
Even No. 1 is basically a reminder that   [TGT] should empathize. âWhat would you most want me to know about your experience?â the card reads. So two-fifths of this card is dedicated to making sure the president of the United States assured those assembled that he was interested in what they had to say and their vantage points.
That's at once pretty striking for a president and not at all striking for  [TGT]  . Through tragedy after tragedy  empathy has been the quality clearly missing from   [TGT]  's reactions. He has focused on first-responders rather than victims. He has joked around when he probably should have been somber. He has attacked a political leader who wasn't appreciative enough. Through it all  it's been clear that expressing that he feels others' pain just isn't his strength.