Trump speech: President finally addresses Kansas shootings, a week after they happened

The White House has been slow to criticise a wave of hate crime sweeping the US

Donald Trump has finally condemned the killing of two Indian men in a hate crime, and repeated attacks on Jewish community centres.

More than a week after one man was killed and two were injured in an apparent racially motivated attack in Kansas, Mr Trump finally came out against the killing.

He opened his first speech to the US congress by saying that the shooting reminds us that the US is a country united against hate and evil.

The killing in Kansas has drawn condemnation across the world, after it emerged that it was being looked to into as a possible hate crime. Some connected the shooting with the often racist rhetoric that has come to the fore in the US since Mr Trump became President.

Making reference to the huge protests that have greeted his Presidency, Mr Trump said that while people might disagree with his policies, they could all unite around condemnation of such attacks.

He said that his speech was intended as a "message of unity and strength".

In addition to his comment about Kansas, he went on to promise that he would soon build a wall along the Mexico-US border and condemned what he claimed was the danger of terrorism and crime if his immigration policies were blocked.

Hours before the speech, Mr Trump appeared to back away from entirely condemning the anti-Semitic attacks. They might have been perpetuated by Jewish people who were looking to make him look bad, he said.