A memorial service has been scheduled for Tuesday. The White House said Mr Obama and Michelle Obama, the First Lady, would be there. Mr Obama is due to leave the following day for a 10-day tour of Asia.
Earlier, he said the response to the tragedy had displayed "the best of America." He said: "Thursday's shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base and yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America."
Mr Obama said he had met with FBI director Robert Mueller and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to be briefed on the investigation into the crime.
Hasan, 39, a specialist in combat stress, went on the rampage as he was about to be deployed to Afghanistan against his wishes.
Mr Obama said it might prove impossible to understand what the motive was.
He said: "We cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing. What we do know is that our thoughts are with every single one of the men and women who were injured at Fort Hood.
"Our thoughts are with all the families who've lost a loved one in this national tragedy.
"And our thoughts are with all the Americans who wear, or who have worn, the proud uniform of the United States of America.
"They are Americans of every race, faith and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other." Mr Obama praised the reaction of soldiers and civilians to the initial shootings at Fort Hood.
He said: "We saw soldiers and civilians alike rushing to aid fallen comrades, tearing off bullet-riddled clothes to treat the injured, using blouses as tourniquets, taking down the shooter even as they bore wounds themselves.
"We saw soldiers bringing to bear on our own soil the skills they had been trained to use abroad."
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