Trump: Media soft-pedals ISIS attacks

In air base speech, president vows to limit immigration to ‘people that love us’

President Donald Trump has lunch with troops while visiting U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Monday, Feb. 6, 2017. Trump, who spent the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, stopped for a visit to the headquarters before returning to Washington.
President Donald Trump has lunch with troops while visiting U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Monday, Feb. 6, 2017. Trump, who spent the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, stopped for a visit to the headquarters before returning to Washington.

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- President Donald Trump on Monday accused the news media of deliberately minimizing coverage of the Islamic State extremist group, saying news outlets "have their reasons" for not reporting what he described as a "genocide."

The president made the accusation during his first visit to the headquarters for U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command.

"You've seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe it's happening. It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported," Trump told a group of military leaders and troops during the visit. "And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that."

Later, the White House released a list of 78 attacks it described as "executed or inspired by" the Islamic State group since September 2014. The White House said "most have not received the media attention they deserved."

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White House spokesman Sean Spicer said it was a question of balance, arguing that Trump believes that journalists pay more attention to marches and crowds than they do to terrorist attacks or plots: "Like a protest gets blown out of the water, and yet an attack or a foiled attack doesn't necessarily get the same coverage."

The list released late Monday included the July 14 attack in Nice, France, that killed dozens and received widespread attention. The list also included attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., and Orlando, Fla., that were covered extensively. Other attacks overseas did not receive much U.S. coverage, including a shooting in Zvornik, Bosnia, in April 2015 in which one police officer was killed and two others were wounded.

Trump cited the threat from the Islamic State when he vowed Monday to allow only people who "want to love our country" into the United States.

"We're up against an enemy that celebrates death and totally worships destruction. You've seen that. ISIS is on a campaign of genocide, committing atrocities across the world," Trump said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. "Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland."

Trump said the U.S. needs "strong programs" so that "people that love us and want to love our country and will end up loving our country are allowed in" and those who "want to destroy us and destroy our country" are kept out.

"Freedom, security and justice will prevail," Trump added. "We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism and we will not allow it to take root in our country. We're not going to allow it."

Trump promised the military "the finest equipment known to man" and praised the country's "legendary warriors."

Earlier, Trump sat down for lunch with a room full of fatigue-clad troops from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, as well as senior members of his White House staff.

"Gonna make it a career?" Trump asked one serviceman. "C'mon, you have to stay," he urged another.

At MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, the president was briefed by U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command leaders. A number of his advisers, including Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser, also attended.

Trump recognized the sacrifices of American military families, vowing his support to those who risk their lives for the country.

"We protect those who protect us, and we will never, ever let you down," he said.

Netanyahu to visit

Trump stopped at the base on the way back to Washington after his first weekend as president away from the White House. Trump spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., with first lady Melania Trump.

Europe is the destination for much of Trump's future travel. The president has committed to several trans-Atlantic trips, agreeing to attend a NATO leaders' meeting in Brussels in late May as well as a May meeting of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations in Taormina, Italy.

In talks last weekend with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House says Trump accepted her invitation to the Group of 20 economic summit in Hamburg, Germany, in early July.

Trump has accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II for a state visit, expected in the summer. Although thousands have protested the decision or signed a petition calling for the queen's invitation to be withdrawn, British Prime Minister Theresa May has said it stands.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after he was elected, will meet with the president at the White House on Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu follows with a White House meeting with Trump on Feb. 15. Trump and Netanyahu met last year during the presidential campaign.

Trump has spoken by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though the two leaders have not scheduled a meeting. Days after that call, Trump's Fox News interview angered Russian officials -- not because of Trump's comments, but because of Bill O'Reilly's.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lashed out at Fox News for airing a segment over the weekend in which the host of The O'Reilly Factor called Putin a "killer."

"We would like to receive an apology from the president from this respected organization," Peskov told reporters on Monday, referring to Fox News. Peskov called O'Reilly's remarks "unacceptable and offensive."

"I'm working on that apology," O'Reilly told viewers on his Fox News program Monday night, "but it may take a little time. You might want to check in with me around 2023."

In the interview, Trump told O'Reilly that the U.S. has killers, too. Peskov refused to comment on Trump's reply.

Information for this article was contributed by Darlene Superville and staff members of The Associated Press; and by John Wagner of The Washington Post.

A Section on 02/07/2017

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