Trump used a White House address to the nation to outline what he said were the causes of the mass murder, accusing the internet of providing a 'dangerous avenue' which was twisting minds.
'Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,' he said.
He had linked mass murder prevention to illegal immigration in an early-morning tweet that included a call for stricter background checks. The proposal had Democrats comparing Trump's ideology to pre-war Nazism.
But in a televised Diplomatic Reception Room address, he made no mention of the demand, and instead offered the first full-throated condemnation of white supremacy and domestic terrorism of his presidency.
'The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online, consumed by racist hate. In one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.
'These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul,' he stated.
Trump said he was directing the Justice Department to develop an advanced monitoring system for social media channels to catch would-be mass murderers before they commit a crime - a new potential clash with the social media giants whom he has repeatedly attacked in recent months.
'We must recognize that the Internet has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalize disturbed minds and perform demented acts. We must shine light on the dark recesses of the Internet and stop mass-murders before they start,' he said.
Trump also assailed violent video games, before finally addressing the issue of guns, where he offered only a call for a 'red flag' law and said he'd take other steps such as involuntary confinement to keep mentally-ill individuals from getting their hands on firearms.
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