Trump backs Cincinnati Zoo's decision to kill gorilla

Donald Trump on Tuesday backed the Cincinnati Zoo's decision to kill a gorilla who zoo officials feared would harm a 4-year-old boy who fell into the gorilla's enclosure.

"I think it's a very tough call," the presumptive Republican nominee said when asked about it a news conference. "They probably didn't have a choice. You have a child, a young child, who is at stake and you know, it’s too bad there wasn’t another way."

The boy climbed over a barrier and through bushes before falling into a moat within the enclosure on Saturday afternoon, attracting the attention of Harambe, a 17-year-old, 450-pound western lowlands gorilla. Fearing for the boy's safety, a zoo team shot the gorilla dead.

Based on his remarks, Trump seemed to have seen video of the incident.

"I thought it was so beautiful to watch that powerful, almost 500-pound gorilla, the way he dealt with that little boy," He said, referring to moments in crowd-shot videos in which the gorilla appeared protective of the boy. "But it just takes one second. It’s one second. It’s not like it takes place over, well, ‘he’s going to do it 30 seconds from now.’ It takes one little flick of his finger, and I will tell you, they probably had no choice.”

Trump was speaking Tuesday at Trump Tower in New York to address questions about money he raised for veterans' groups.