WATCH: White House holds briefing as Minneapolis recovers from school shooting

The White House reacted Thursday to the shooting in Minneapolis that killed two Catholic school students and wounded more than a dozen others sitting in the pews of a church by calling it a “horrific” attack by a “deranged shooter.”

Watch White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s news briefing in the player above.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president and first lady “encouraged the entire nation to join all of us in praying for the victims and their families as they face unimaginable grief and loss.”

Leavitt slammed former White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Minneapolis Mayor Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey who said offers of thoughts and prayers where not enough after the shooting. Frey pointed out that the children were praying at the time of the attack.

“I think they’re incredibly insensitive and disrespectful to the tens of millions of Americans of faith across this country who believe in the power of prayer,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt thanks DC mayor for cooperating with the White House

Leavitt thanked Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser for her “cooperation and her willingness to help us make D.C. safe and beautiful.”

Bowser has tried to show deference to Trump while also recognizing anxieties within the city.

WATCH: DC Mayor Bowser gives update on federal takeover of law enforcement in the district

Bowser said Tuesday that while the federal surge has helped reduce crime, it has also led to a “break in trust between, police and community, especially with new federal partners.”

Trump himself has previously threatened to take over the city if Bowser didn’t “get her act straight.”

Trump fired the CDC director himself, White House says

During her briefing with reporters, Leavitt said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Susan Monarez was asked by the administration’s health secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr., to resign and she said she would but “then said she wouldn’t.”

“So the president fired her, which he has every right to do,” Leavitt said.

READ MORE: Susan Monarez ousted as CDC director after less than a month as other agency leaders resign

Leavitt said a statement released by Monarez’s lawyers “made it abundantly clear that she was not aligned with the president’s mission to Make America Healthy Again.” She said a replacement for Monarez would be announced by Trump and Kennedy soon.

Leavitt said she didn’t have knowledge about more changes coming to the CDC, but noted that top officials left when Monarez did.

Leavitt criticizes both Putin and Zelenskyy after latest big Russian assault on Kyiv

Trump “was not happy about this news, but he was also not surprised,”  Leavitt said of Russia’s Thursday air assault on Kyiv that left at least 21 dead and injured dozens more.

Leavitt noted that Ukraine has also launched effective assaults on Russia’s oil industry in recent weeks.

“Perhaps, both sides of this war are not ready to end it themselves,” Leavitt said. “The president wants it to end, but the leaders of these two countries…must want it to end as well.”