MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. \u2014
President Donald Trump on Monday accused the media of deliberately minimizing coverage of the threat posed by the Islamic State group, saying news outlets \u201chave their reasons\u201d for not reporting what he described as a \u201cgenocide\u201d underway at the hands of the group.
The president did not immediately offer evidence to support his claim, made during the new commander in chief\u2019s first visit to the headquarters for U. S. Central Command. Later, the White House released a list of 78 attacks it described as \u201cexecuted or inspired by\u201d the Islamic State group since September 2014. The White House said \u201cmost\u201d on the list did not get sufficient media attention, although it did not explain how it defined the term. Some of the incidents on the list received widespread attention and deep reporting.
\u201cYou\u2019ve seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe it\u2019s happening. It\u2019s gotten to a point where it\u2019s not even being reported,\u201d Trump told a group of military leaders and troops during the visit. \u201cAnd in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn\u2019t want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that.\u201d
Trump, who has made relentless criticism of the media a hallmark of his presidency, did not explain why he thinks news outlets minimize attention on such attacks.
Later, White House spokesman Sean Spicer tried to tone down the president\u2019s remarks, saying it was a question of balance: \u201cLike a protest gets blown out of the water, and yet an attack or a foiled attack doesn\u2019t necessarily get the same coverage.\u201d
The list released late Monday included incidents like a truck massacre in Nice, France, that killed dozens and received widespread attention, as well as less high-profile incidents in which nobody was killed.
The AP could not verify that each of the incidents had connections to the Islamic State group. The list appeared to be hastily assembled, including several misspellings of the word \u201cattacker.\u201d
Trump also used the visit to CENTCOM to defend his immigration and refugee restrictions and reaffirm his support for NATO.
He laced his speech with references to homeland security amid a court battle over his travel ban on people from seven majority-Muslim countries. He did not directly mention the case now before a federal appeals court after a lower court temporarily suspended the ban.
\u201cWe need strong programs\u201d so that \u201cpeople that love us and want to love our country and will end up loving our country are allowed in\u201d and those who \u201cwant to destroy us and destroy our country\u201d are kept out, Trump said.
\u201cFreedom, security and justice will prevail,\u201d Trump added. \u201cWe will defeat radical Islamic terrorism and we will not allow it to take root in our country. We\u2019re not going to allow it.\u201d
Trump touched upon various alliances in his remarks, noting, \u201cwe strongly support NATO.\u201d
He spoke Sunday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. A White House statement said the two \u201cdiscussed how to encourage all NATO allies to meet their defense spending commitments,\u201d and also talked about the crisis in Ukraine and security challenges facing NATO countries.
Trump once dismissed the trans-Atlantic military alliance as \u201cobsolete,\u201d and said he would decide whether to protect NATO countries against Russian aggression based on whether those countries \u201chave fulfilled their obligations to us.\u201d
Speaking as commander in chief, Trump repeated his promises to defeat \u201cradical Islamic terrorists\u201d but provided no specifics on any policy changes he wants in the fight against the Islamic State.
Before his remarks, Trump sat down for lunch with a room full of troops in fatigues from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, as well as senior members of his White House staff.
Trump made small talk with some of the soldiers, discussing everything from football to military careers.
\u201cGonna make it a career?\u201d Trump asked one person.
\u201cC\u2019mon, you have to stay,\u201d he urged another.
Trump also hailed New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, saying he \u201ccemented his place\u201d in football history after his fifth Super Bowl win Sunday.
Trump stopped at the base on the way back to Washington after his first weekend away from the White House. Trump spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, with first lady Melania Trump, who had not appeared in public since shortly after her husband took office.
At MacDill, the president was briefed by CENTCOM and SOCOM leaders. A number of his advisers, including Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Michael Flynn, Trump\u2019s national security adviser, also attended.
Trump met with Florida Gov. Rick Scott before delivering his remarks, telling the crowd at CENTCOM that Scott\u2019s endorsement of his candidacy for president \u201cmakes him a better friend of mine,\u201d adding that with those who don\u2019t offer their endorsement, \u201cit\u2019s never quite the same.\u201d
CENTCOM oversaw a recent raid by U. S. special operations forces on an al-Qaida compound in Yemen, the first military operation authorized by Trump. A Navy SEAL, Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator William \u201cRyan\u201d Owens, 36, of Peoria, Illinois, was killed, making him the first known U. S. combat casualty under Trump.
Three other U. S. service members were wounded in the operation. More than half a dozen suspected militants and more than a dozen civilians were also killed, including the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric and U. S. citizen who was targeted and killed in 2011 by a U. S. drone strike.
Trump made no mention of Owens or the raid in Yemen during his remarks Monday, but he paid recognition to the sacrifices of American military families and the spouses of American soldiers, vowing his support to those who risk their lives for the country.
\u201cWe protect those who protect us, and we will never, ever let you down,\u201d he said.
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