Donald Trump has accused the “dishonest media” of failing to report Islamic terrorist attacks.
In a speech at Central Command headquarters in Florida, the President claimed the press has deliberately minimised coverage of the “genocide” perpetrated by Islamic State.
He said: “Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland as they did on 9/11, as they did from Boston to Orlando to San Bernardino.
“And all across Europe we’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. In many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that.”
Trump did not immediately offer up any evidence to back up his claim but the White House later released a list of 78 worldwide attacks it described as “executed or inspired by” so-called Islamic State since September 2014.
Most on the list did not get sufficient media attention, the White House said, without specifying which ones it considered underreported.
An analysis of the 78 incidents by The Huffington Post UK found the assertions to be largely untrue.
Most strikingly it contained incidents such as the 2015 Paris attacks, the Orlando nightclub shooting and the downing of a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula in 2015, all of which were extensively covered internationally.
Using simple searches in Google News revealed only seven of the 78 attacks resulted in fewer that 50 news articles.
None of those seven incidents involved fatalities and two involved no casualties at all.
In total there were at least 1,704,403 results for all 78 attacks, with some such as the attack on tourists in Sousse, Tunisia, in 2015 displaying more than 10,000 articles.
Six of those listed brought up over 100,000 Google News search results.
White House Spells Out The ‘Truth’
Spelling mistakes were widespread in the White House document, with the word attacker misspelt “attaker” 27 times.
Denmark appears once as “Denmakr” and San Bernardino as “San Bernadino”.
The list doesn’t contain attacks carried out by far-right and white nationalist individuals and also omits any committed in Israel.
Nor did it reference the now-infamous and non-existent ‘Bowling Green Massacre’.
Trump is using the threat of terrorism to push through his controversial ban on people entering America from seven mainly Muslim countries.
Last week, a federal judge blocked the executive order but the Justice Department filed an appeal arguing the travel ban was a “lawful exercise of the president’s authority to protect national security”.
7 Terror Attacks With 50 Or Fewer Related News Articles
N’DJAMENA, CHAD
November, 2016
TARGET: No casualties; attacker arrested after opening fire at entrance of US Embassy
ATTACKER: Chadian national
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “N’Djamena US embassy shooting” 2 results
HURGHADA, EGYPT
January, 2016
TARGET: One German and one Danish national wounded in knife attack at a tourist resort
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Hurghada knife attack (Jan 2016) 3 pages
CAIRO, EGYPT
January, 2016
TARGET: Two wounded in drive-by shooting outside a hotel frequented by tourists
ATTACKERS: Unidentified ISIL operatives
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Cairo drive-by shooting bus hotel” At least 6 major international news reports
EL GORA, EGYPT
October, 2015
TARGET: No casualties; airfield used by MFO attacked with rockets
ATTACKER: Unidentified ISIL-Sinai operatives
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “El Gora mfo (Oct 2015)” None (although a wider search for “Islamic State sinai -Russian” displays widespread coverage of the ongoing unrest in the region for that month).
EL GORA, EGYPT
September, 2015
TARGET: Four US and two MFO troops wounded in IED attack
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “EL GORA MFO (Sep 2015)” 13 (although a wider search for “Islamic State Sinai Sep 2015” displays multiple reports of unrest in the region for that month).
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
January, 2015
TARGET: Two US citizens wounded in shooting
ATTACKER: Saudi Arabia-based ISIL supporter
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Riydah two americans shooting (Jan 2015)” At least 5 major news reports
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
September, 2015
TARGET: One police officer wounded in knife attack
ATTACKER: Palestinian national
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: 5
The White House’s Full List Of 78 ‘Unreported’ Terrorist Incidents
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
September, 2014
TARGET: Two police officers wounded in knife attack
ATTACKER: Abdul Numan Haider
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Abdul Numan Haider” 579
TIZI OUZOU, ALGERIA
September, 2014
TARGET: One French citizen beheaded
ATTACKER: Jund al-Khilafah in Algeria
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Jund al-Khilafah QUEBEC, CANADA” 158
QUEBEC, CANADA
October, 2014
TARGET: One soldier killed and one wounded in vehicle attack
ATTACKER: Martin Couture-Rouleau
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Martin Couture-Rouleau” 3,060
OTTAWA, CANADA
October, 2014
TARGET: One soldier killed at war memorial; two wounded in shootings at Parliament building
ATTACKER: Michael Zehaf-Bibeau
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Michael Zehaf-Bibeau” 7,640
NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA
October, 2014
TARGET: Two police officers wounded in knife attack
ATTACKER: US person
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Zale Thompson attack” 366
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
November, 2014
TARGET: One Danish citizen wounded in shooting
ATTACKERS: Three Saudi Arabia-based ISIL members
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA shooting danish citizen” 1,660
ABU DHABI, UAE
DATE: December 2014
TARGET: One American killed in knife attack
ATTACKER: Dalal al-Hashimi
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “american killed in knife attack ABU DHABI (Dec 2014)” 7 pages of results.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
December, 2014
TARGET: Two Australians killed in hostage taking and shooting
ATTACKER: Man Haron Monis
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Man Haron Monis” 13,800
TOURS, FRANCE
December, 2014
TARGET: Three police officers wounded in knife attack
ATTACKER: Bertrand Nzohabonayo
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Bertrand Nzohabonayo” 368
PARIS, FRANCE
January, 2015
TARGET: One police officer and four hostages killed in shooting at a kosher supermarket
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “paris shooting kosher supermarket (Jan 2015)” 10+ pages
TRIPOLI, LIBYA
January, 2015
TARGET: Ten killed, including one US citizen, and five wounded in bombing and shooting at a hotel frequented by westerners
ATTACKERS: As many as five ISIL-Libya members
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Tripoli Corinthia Hotel bombing Islamic State 688
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
January, 2015
TARGET: Two US citizens wounded in shooting
ATTACKER: Saudi Arabia-based ISIL supporter
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Riydah two Americans shooting (Jan 2015)” At least 5 major news reports
EL GORA, EGYPT
September, 2015
TARGET: Four US and two MFO troops wounded in IED attack
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “EL GORA MFO (Sep 2015)” 13 (Although a wider search for “Islamic State Sinai Sep 2015” displays multiple reports of unrest in the region.
NICE, FRANCE
February, 2015
TARGET: Two French soldiers wounded in knife attack outside a Jewish community center
ATTACKER: Moussa Coulibaly
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Moussa Coulibaly knife attack” 109
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
February, 2015
TARGET: One civilian killed in shooting at a free-speech rally and one security guard killed outside the city’s main synagogue
ATTACKER: Omar Abdel Hamid el-Hussein
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: 3,320
TUNIS, TUNISIA
March, 2015
TARGET: 21 tourists killed, including 16 westerners, and 55 wounded in shooting at the Bardo Museum
ATTACKERS: Two ISIL-aligned extremists
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: 9,800
KARACHI, PAKISTAN
April, 2015
TARGET: One US citizen wounded in knife attack
ATTACKERS: Pakistan-based ISIL supporters
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Pakistan knife attack US citizen islamic state” None (although the Washington Post and others did report a shooting around the same time)
PARIS, FRANCE
April, 2015
TARGET: Catholic churches targeted; one civilian killed in shooting, possibly during an attempted carjacking
ATTACKER: Sid Ahmed Ghlam
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Sid Ahmed Ghlam (Apr 2015) 10+ pages
ZVORNIK, BOSNIA
April, 2015
TARGET: One police officer killed and two wounded in shooting
ATTACKER: Nerdin Ibric
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: 124
GARLAND, TX, USA
May, 2015
TARGET: One security guard wounded in shooting at the Prophet Muhammad cartoon event
ATTACKERS: Two US persons
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Garland shooting Prophet Muhammad cartoon” 3,270
BOSTON, MA, USA
June, 2015
TARGET: No casualties; one police officer attacked with knife
ATTACKER: US person
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “police officer attacked Boston (Jun 2015) 10+ pages
EL GORA (AL JURAH), EGYPT
June, 2015
TARGET: No casualties; camp used by Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) troops attacked in shooting and bombing attack
ATTACKERS: Unknown number of ISIL-Sinai members
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Islamic State Sinai (Apr 2015)” 10+ pages
LUXOR, EGYPT
June, 2015
TARGET: One police officer killed by suicide bomb near the Temple of Karnak
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Temple of Karnak suicide bombing” 307
SOUSSE, TUNISIA
June, 2015
TARGET: 38 killed and 39 wounded in shooting at a beach frequented by westerners
ATTACKERS: Seifeddine Rezgui and another unidentified attacker
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Sousse terror attack” 10,200
LYON, FRANCE
June, 2015
TARGET: One civilian killed in beheading and explosion at a chemical plant
ATTACKER: Yasin Salhi
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Yasin Salhi” 369
CAIRO, EGYPT
July, 2015
TARGET: One killed and nine wounded in VBIED attack at Italian Consulate
ATTACKER: Unidentified ISIL operatives
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Italian Consulate bombing Cairo” 2,770
CAIRO, EGYPT
July, 2015
TARGET: One Croatian national kidnapped; beheaded on August 12 at an unknown location
ATTACKER: Unidentified ISIL-Sinai operative
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Croatian beheaded Cairo” 1,600
PARIS, FRANCE
August, 2015
TARGET: Two civilians and one US soldier wounded with firearms and knife on a passenger train
ATTACKER: Ayoub el-Khazzani
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Ayoub el-Khazzani” 8,370
EL GORA, EGYPT
September, 2015
TARGET: Four US and two MFO troops wounded in IED attack
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “EL GORA MFO (Sep 2015)” 13 (Although a wider search for “Islamic State Sinai Sep 2015” displays multiple reports of unrest in the region.
DHAKA, BANGLADESH
September, 2015
TARGET: One Italian civilian killed in shooting
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Dhaka, Bangladesh Italian shooting (Sep2015) 10+ pages
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
September, 2015
TARGET: One police officer wounded in knife attack
ATTACKER: Palestinian national
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: 5
EL GORA, EGYPT
October, 2015
TARGET: No casualties; airfield used by MFO attacked with rockets
ATTACKER: Unidentified ISIL-Sinai operatives
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “El Gora mfo (Oct 2015)” None (Although a wider search for “Islamic State sinai -Russian” displays widespread coverage of the ongoing unrest in the region)
PARRAMATTA, AUSTRALIA
October, 2015
TARGET: One police officer killed in shooting
ATTACKER: Farhad Jabar
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Parramatta shooting (Oct 2015)” 10+ pages
RANGPUR, BANGLADESH
October, 2015
TARGET: One Japanese civilian killed in shooting
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Kunio Hoshi” 1,620
HASANAH, EGYPT
October, 2015
TARGET: 224 killed in downing of a Russian airliner
ATTACKER: Unidentified ISIL-Sinai operatives
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Russian airliner shot down Sinai” 5,680
MERCED, CA, US
November, 2015
TARGET: Four wounded in knife attack on a college campus
ATTACKER: US person
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Merced college campus knife attack” 544
PARIS, FRANCE
November, 2015
TARGET: At least 129 killed and approximately 400 wounded in series of shootings and IED attacks
ATTACKERS: Brahim Abdelslam, Saleh Abdeslam, Ismail Mostefai, Bilal Hadfi, Samy Amimour, Chakib Ahrouh, Foued Mohamed Aggad, and Abdelhamid Abaaoud
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Paris terror attacks November 2015” 441,000
DINAJPUR, BANGLADESH
November, 2015
TARGET: One Italian citizen wounded in shooting
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Dinajpur Italian shooting” 357
RAJLOVAC, BOSNIA
December, 2015
TARGET: Two Bosnian soldiers killed in shooting
ATTACKER: Enes Omeragic
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Enes Omeragic” 446
SAN BERNARDINO, CA, US
December, 2015
TARGET: 14 killed and 21 wounded in coordinated firearms attack
ATTACKERS: Two US persons
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “San Bernardino shooting” 141,000
LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
December, 2015
TARGET: Three wounded in knife attack at an underground rail station
ATTACKER: Muhaydin Mire
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Muhaydin Mire” 844
DERBENT, RUSSIA
December, 2015
TARGET: One killed and 11 wounded in shooting at UN World Heritage site
ATTACKER: Unidentified ISIL-Caucasus operative
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Derbent UN World Heritage site attack” 127
CAIRO, EGYPT
January, 2016
TARGET: Two wounded in drive-by shooting outside a hotel frequented by tourists
ATTACKERS: Unidentified ISIL operatives
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Cairo drive-by shooting bus hotel” At least 6 major international news reports
PARIS, FRANCE
January, 2016
TARGET: No casualties; attacker killed after attempted knife attack on Paris police station
ATTACKER: Tarek Belgacem
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Tarek Belgacem” 1,450
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
January, 2016
TARGET: One police officer wounded in shooting
ATTACKER: US person
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Philadelphia shooting police officer injured” 10+ pages
HURGHADA, EGYPT
January, 2016
TARGET: One German and one Danish national wounded in knife attack at a tourist resort
ATTACKER: Unidentified
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Hurghada knife attack (Jan 2016) 3 pages
MARSEILLES, FRANCE
January, 2016
TARGET: One Jewish teacher wounded in machete attack
ATTACKER: 15 year-old Ethnic Kurd from Turkey
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Marseilles machete attack Jewish teacher” 463
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
January, 2016
TARGET: 12 German tourists killed and 15 wounded in suicide bombing
ATTACKER: Nabil Fadli
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Nabil Fadli Istanbul suicide bomber” 236
JAKARTA, INDONESIA
January, 2016
TARGET: Four civilians killed and more than 20 wounded in coordinated bombing and firearms attacks near a police station and a Starbucks
ATTACKERS: Dian Joni Kurnaiadi, Muhammad Ali, Arif Sunakim, and Ahmad Muhazan bin Saron
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Jakarta bombing (Jan 2016)” 10+ pages
COLUMBUS, OH, US
February, 2016
TARGET: Four civilians wounded in machete attack at a restaurant
ATTACKER: US person
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Columbus machete attack (Feb 2016)” 10+ pages
HANOVER, GERMANY
February, 2016
TARGET: One police officer wounded in knife attack
ATTACKER: Safia Schmitter
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Hanover knife attack” 10+ pages
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
March, 2016
TARGET: Four killed and 36 wounded in suicide bombing in the tourist district
ATTACKER: Mehmet Ozturk
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Mehmet Ozturk suicide bomber” 348
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
March, 2016
TARGET: At least 31 killed and 270 wounded in coordinated bombings at Zaventem Airport and on a subway train
ATTACKERS: Khalid el-Bakraoui, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, Najim Laachraoui, Mohammed Abrini, and Osama Krayem
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Brussels bombing Zaventem Airport” 20,800
ESSEN, GERMANY
April, 2016
TARGET: Three wounded in bombing at Sikh temple
ATTACKERS: Three identified minors
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Essen Sikh temple bombing” 211
ORLANDO, FL, US
June, 2016
TARGET: 49 killed and 53 wounded in shooting at a nightclub
ATTACKER: US person
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Orlando nightclub shooting” 363,000
MAGNANVILLE, FRANCE
June, 2016
TARGET: One police officer and one civilian killed in knife attack
ATTACKER: Larossi Abballa
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Larossi Abballa” 10,900
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
June, 2016
TARGET: 14 killed in suicide attack on a bus carrying Canadian Embassy guards
ATTACKER: ISIL-Khorasan operative
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Canadian Embassy guards Kabul suicide attack” 49,700
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
June, 2016
TARGET: 45 killed and approximately 240 wounded at Ataturk International Airport
ATTACKERS: Rakhim Bulgarov, Vadim Osmanov, and an unidentified ISIL operative
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Ataturk airport attack” 117,000
DHAKA, BANGLADESH
July, 2016
TARGET: 22 killed, including one American and 50 wounded after hours-long siege using machetes and firearms at Holy Artisan Bakery
ATTACKERS: Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Khairul Islam Paye, and Shafiqul Islam Uzzal
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Dhaka terror attack Holy Artisan Bakery” 955
NICE, FRANCE
July, 2016
TARGET: 84 civilians killed and 308 wounded by an individual who drove a truck into a crowd
ATTACKER: Mohamed Bouhlel
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “France Nice truck attack” 270,000
WURZBURG, GERMANY
July, 2016
TARGET: Four civilians wounded in axe attack on a train
ATTACKER: Riaz Khan Ahmadzai
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Riaz Khan Ahmadzai” 559
ANSBACH, GERMANY
July, 2016
TARGET: At least 15 wounded in suicide bombing at a music festival
ATTACKER: Mohammad Daleel
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Ansbach attack” 10+ pages
NORMANDY, FRANCE
July, 2016
TARGET: One priest killed in knife attack
ATTACKERS: Adel Kermiche and Abdel Malik Nabil Petitjean
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Normandy priest attack” 7,350
CHALEROI, BELGIUM
August, 2016
TARGET: Two police officers wounded in machete attack
ATTACKER: Khaled Babouri
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Chaleroi machete attack” 737
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
August, 2016
TARGET: Two killed and one wounded in knife attack at a hostel frequented by Westerners
ATTACKER: Smail Ayad
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Queensland hostel knife attack” 513
PARIS, FRANCE
September, 2016
TARGET: One police officer wounded in raid after VBIED failed to detonate at Notre Dame Cathedral
ATTACKERS: Sarah Hervouet, Ines Madani, and Amel Sakaou
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Notre Dame car bomb” 1,890
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
September, 2016
TARGET: One civilian wounded in knife attack
ATTACKER: Ihsas Khan
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Ihsas Khan” 467
ST CLOUD, MIN, US
September, 2016
TARGET: 10 wounded in knife attack in a mall
ATTACKER: Dahir Ahmed Adan
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “ St Cloud mall knife attack” 10,900
NEW YORK, NY; SEASIDE PARK AND ELIZABETH, NJ, US
September, 2016
TARGET: 31 wounded in bombing in New York City; several explosive devices found in New York and New Jersey; one exploded without casualty at race in New Jersey; one police officer wounded in shootout
ATTACKER: Ahmad Khan Rahami
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Ahmad Khan Rahami bombing” 17,200
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
October, 2016
TARGET: Two police officers wounded in stabbing
ATTACKER: Belgian national
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Brussels stabbing terror attack (Oct 2016)” 10+ pages
KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT
TARGET: No casualties; vehicle carrying three US soldiers hit by a truck
ATTACKER: Ibrahim Sulayman
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Kuwait City truck hits us soldiers (Oct 2016)” 10+ pages
MALMO, SWEDEN
October, 2016
TARGET: No casualties; mosque and community center attacked with Molotov cocktail
ATTACKER: Syrian national
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Malmo mosque attack molotov cocktail” 108
HAMBURG, GERMANY
October, 2016
TARGET: One killed in knife attack
ATTACKER: Unknown
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Hamburg knife attack (Oct 2016) 5 pages
MANILA, PHILIPPINES
November, 2016
TARGET: No casualties; failed IED attempt near US Embassy
ATTACKERS: Philippine nationals aligned with the Maute group
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Manilla bomb US embassy (Nov 2016) 10+ pages
COLUMBUS, OH, US
November, 2016
TARGET: 14 wounded by individuals who drove a vehicle into a group of pedestrians and attacked them with a knife
ATTACKER: US person
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Columbus Ohio terror attack (Nov 2016) 8 pages
N’DJAMENA, CHAD
November, 2016
TARGET: No casualties; attacker arrested after opening fire at entrance of US Embassy
ATTACKER: Chadian national
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “N’Djamena US embassy shooting” 2
KARAK, JORDAN
December, 2016
TARGET: 10 killed and 28 wounded in shooting at a tourist site
ATTACKERS: Several gunmen
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Jordan shooting Karak (Dec 2016) 8 pages
BERLIN, GERMANY
December, 2016
TARGET: 12 killed and 48 wounded by individual who drove truck into a crowded market
ATTACKER: Anis Amri
GOOGLE NEWS RESULTS: “Berlin Christmas market attack” 182,000