Hours after the Washington plane crash, the president’s desire to politicise tragedy was breathtaking in its audacity

• Washington DC plane crash – latest updates

After the Challenger space shuttle disaster, Ronald Reagan ended an Oval Office address with the consoling thought that its crew had slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God. Successors such as Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden also shone in the crucial US presidential role of consoler-in-chief.

How would Donald Trump fare in his first test since returning to the White House? On Thursday he came to the press briefing room just 14 hours after the collision of a passenger plane and army helicopter near a Washington airport apparently left all 67 people dead.