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White House List Contradicts Trump Claim That Terror Attacks Go Unreported

Updated at 10:30 p.m. ET

President Trump, in another broadside against the news media, on Monday accused "the dishonest press" of failing to report terrorist attacks.

But in a list put out by the White House later Monday evening, many of the attacks cited, such as the attack the Orlando night club shooting last June and 2015 attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., and Paris were extensively covered by the media around the clock.

Speaking to troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, Trump cited a series of recent attacks and then added, "It's gotten to a point where it's not even reported, and in many cases the very, very dishonest press doesn't even want to report it."

Trump told the troops that the media "have their reasons, and you understand that," but didn't elaborate beyond that.

Trump initially cited no examples of the media's failure to report terrorist attacks. Onboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington with the president, press secretary Sean Spicer said terrorist attacks "aren't exactly covered to a degree on which they should be" and said they would release a full list of examples soon.

Late Monday evening, the White House did just that. According to a White House official, the point they were trying to make "is that these terrorists attacks are so pervasive at this point that they do not spark the wall-to-wall coverage they once did."

"If you look back just a few years ago, any one of these attacks would have been ubiquitous in every news outlet, and now they're happening so often ... that networks are not devoting to each of them the same level of coverage they once did," the administration official continued.

PolitiFact rated Trump's claim as "Pants on Fire," writing that they "found no support for the idea that the media is hushing up terrorist attacks on U.S. or European soil. The media may sometimes be cautious about assigning religious motivation to a terrorist attack when the facts are unclear or still being investigated. But that's not the same as covering them up through lack of coverage. There is plenty of coverage of in the American media of terrorist attacks."

Numerous journalists have been killed by terrorists, including freelance reporter James Foley, who was the first American to die at the hands of ISIS, in 2014. Many others have died covering fighting related to the war on terrorism, including NPR photographer David Gilkey and interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna, who were killed last June while covering the fighting in Afghanistan. The Committee to Protect Journalists keeps a tally of journalists killed each year.

Here's the entire unedited (we did not fix misspellings, for example) list of 78 attacks from September 2014 to December 2016 provided by the White House:

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

September, 2014

TARGET: Two police officers wounded in knife attack

ATTACKER: Abdul Numan Haider

TIZI OUZOU, ALGERIA

September, 2014

TARGET: One French citizen beheaded

ATTACKER: Jund al-Khilafah in Algeria

QUEBEC, CANADA

October, 2014

TARGET: One soldier killed and one wounded in vehicle attack

ATTACKER: Martin Couture-Rouleau

OTTAWA, CANADA

October, 2014

TARGET: One soldier killed at war memorial; two wounded in shootings at Parliament building

ATTACKER: Michael Zehaf-Bibeau

NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA

October, 2014

TARGET: Two police officers wounded in knife attack

ATTACKER: US person

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

November, 2014

TARGET: One Danish citizen wounded in shooting

ATTACKERS: Three Saudi Arabia-based ISIL members

ABU DHABI, UAE

DATE: December 2014

TARGET: One American killed in knife attack

ATTACKER: Dalal al-Hashimi

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

December, 2014

TARGET: Two Australians killed in hostage taking and shooting

ATTACKER: Man Haron Monis

TOURS, FRANCE

December, 2014

TARGET: Three police officers wounded in knife attack

ATTACKER: Bertrand Nzohabonayo

PARIS, FRANCE

January, 2015

TARGET: One police officer and four hostages killed in shooting at a kosher supermarket

ATTACKER: Amedy Coulibaly

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

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

January, 2015

TARGET: Two US citizens wounded in shooting

ATTACKER: Saudi Arabia-based ISIL supporter

NICE, FRANCE

February, 2015

TARGET: Two French soldiers wounded in knife attack outside a Jewish community center

ATTACKER: Moussa Coulibaly

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

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

KARACHI, PAKISTAN

April, 2015

TARGET: One US citizen wounded in knife attack

ATTACKERS: Pakistan-based ISIL supporters

PARIS, FRANCE

April, 2015

TARGET: Catholic churches targeted; one civilian killed in shooting, possibly during an attempted carjacking

ATTACKER: Sid Ahmed Ghlam

ZVORNIK, BOSNIA

April, 2015

TARGET: One police officer killed and two wounded in shooting

ATTACKER: Nerdin Ibric

GARLAND, TX, USA

May, 2015

TARGET: One security guard wounded in shooting at the Prophet Muhammad cartoon event

ATTACKERS: Two US persons

BOSTON, MA, USA

June, 2015

TARGET: No casualties; one police officer attacked with knife

ATTACKER: US person

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

LUXOR, EGYPT

June, 2015

TARGET: One police officer killed by suicide bomb near the Temple of Karnak

ATTACKER: Unidentified

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

LYON, FRANCE

June, 2015

TARGET: One civilian killed in beheading and explosion at a chemical plant

ATTACKER: Yasin Salhi

CAIRO, EGYPT

July, 2015

TARGET: One killed and nine wounded in VBIED attack at Italian Consulate

ATTACKER: Unidentified ISIL operatives

CAIRO, EGYPT

July, 2015

TARGET: One Croatian national kidnapped; beheaded on August 12 at an unknown location

ATTACKER: Unidentified ISIL-Sinai operative

PARIS, FRANCE

August, 2015

TARGET: Two civilians and one US soldier wounded with firearms and knife on a passenger train

ATTACKER: Ayoub el-Khazzani

EL GORA, EGYPT

September, 2015

TARGET: Four US and two MFO troops wounded in IED attack

ATTACKER: Unidentified

DHAKA, BANGLADESH

September, 2015

TARGET: One Italian civilian killed in shooting

ATTACKER: Unidentified

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

September, 2015

TARGET: One police officer wounded in knife attack

ATTAKER: Palestinian national

EL GORA, EGYPT

October, 2015

TARGET: No casualties; airfield used by MFO attacked with rockets

ATTAKER: Unidentified ISIL-Sinai operatives

PARRAMATTA, AUSTRALIA

October, 2015

TARGET: One police officer killed in shooting

ATTAKER: Farhad Jabar

RANGPUR, BANGLADESH

October, 2015

TARGET: One Japanese civilian killed in shooting

ATTAKER: Unidentified

HASANAH, EGYPT

October, 2015

TARGET: 224 killed in downing of a Russian airliner

ATTAKER: Unidentified ISIL-Sinai operatives

MERCED, CA, US

November, 2015

TARGET: Four wounded in knife attack on a college campus

ATTAKER: US person

PARIS, FRANCE

November, 2015

TARGET: At least 129 killed and approximately 400 wounded in series of shootings and IED attacks

ATTAKERS: Brahim Abdelslam, Saleh Abdeslam, Ismail Mostefai, Bilal Hadfi, Samy Amimour, Chakib Ahrouh, Foued Mohamed Aggad, and Abdelhamid Abaaoud

DINAJPUR, BANGLADESH

November, 2015

TARGET: One Italian citizen wounded in shooting

ATTAKER: Unidentified

RAJLOVAC, BOSNIA

December, 2015

TARGET: Two Bosnian soldiers killed in shooting

ATTAKER: Enes Omeragic

SAN BERNADINO, CA, US

December, 2015

TARGET: 14 killed and 21 wounded in coordinated firearms attack

ATTAKERS: Two US persons

LONDON, ENGLAND, UK

December, 2015

TARGET: Three wounded in knife attack at an underground rail station

ATTAKER: Muhyadin Mire

DERBENT, RUSSIA

December, 2015

TARGET: One killed and 11 wounded in shooting at UN World Heritage site

ATTAKER: Unidentified ISIL-Caucasus operative

CAIRO, EGYPT

January, 2016

TARGET: Two wounded in drive-by shooting outside a hotel frequented by tourists

ATTAKERS: Unidentified ISIL operatives

PARIS, FRANCE

January, 2016

TARGET: No casualties; attacker killed after attempted knife attack on Paris police station

ATTAKER: Tarek Belgacem

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

January, 2016

TARGET: One police officer wounded in shooting

ATTAKER: US person

HURGHADA, EGYPT

January, 2016

TARGET: One German and one Danish national wounded in knife attack at a tourist resort

ATTAKER: Unidentified

MARSEILLES, FRANCE

January, 2016

TARGET: One Jewish teacher wounded in machete attack

ATTAKER: 15 year-old Ethnic Kurd from Turkey

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

January, 2016

TARGET: 12 German tourists killed and 15 wounded in suicide bombing

ATTAKER: Nabil Fadli

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

ATTAKERS: Dian Joni Kurnaiadi, Muhammad Ali, Arif Sunakim, and Ahmad Muhazan bin Saron

COLUMBUS, OH, US

February, 2016

TARGET: Four civilians wounded in machete attack at a restaurant

ATTAKER: US person

HANOVER, GERMANY

February, 2016

TARGET: One police officer wounded in knife attack

ATTAKER: Safia Schmitter

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

March, 2016

TARGET: Four killed and 36 wounded in suicide bombing in the tourist district

ATTAKER: Mehmet Ozturk

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

March, 2016

TARGET: At least 31 killed and 270 wounded in coordinated bombings at Zaventem Airport and on a subway train

ATTAKERS: Khalid el-Bakraoui, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, Najim Laachraoui, Mohammed Abrini, and Osama Krayem

ESSEN, GERMANY

April, 2016

TARGET: Three wounded in bombing at Sikh temple

ATTAKERS: Three identified minors

ORLANDO, FL, US

June, 2016

TARGET: 49 killed and 53 wounded in shooting at a nightclub

ATTAKER: US person

MAGNANVILLE, FRANCE

June, 2016

TARGET: One police officer and one civilian killed in knife attack

ATTAKER: Larossi Abballa

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

June, 2016

TARGET: 14 killed in suicide attack on a bus carrying Canadian Embassy guards

ATTAKER: ISIL-Khorasan operative

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

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

NICE, FRANCE

July, 2016

TARGET: 84 civilians killed and 308 wounded by an individual who drove a truck into a crowd

ATTACKER: Mohamed Bouhlel

WURZBURG, GERMANY

July, 2016

TARGET: Four civilians wounded in axe attack on a train

ATTACKER: Riaz Khan Ahmadzai

ANSBACH, GERMANY

July, 2016

TARGET: At least 15 wounded in suicide bombing at a music festival

ATTACKER: Mohammad Daleel

NORMANDY, FRANCE

July, 2016

TARGET: One priest killed in knife attack

ATTACKERS: Adel Kermiche and Abdel Malik Nabil Petitjean

CHALEROI, BELGIUM

August, 2016

TARGET: Two police officers wounded in machete attack

ATTACKER: Khaled Babouri

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

August, 2016

TARGET: Two killed and one wounded in knife attack at a hostel frequented by Westerners

ATTACKER: Smail Ayad

COPENHAGEN, DENMAKR

September, 2016

TARGET: Two police officers and a civilian wounded in shooting

ATTACKER: Mesa Hodzic

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

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

September, 2016

TARGET: One civilian wounded in knife attack

ATTACKER: Ihsas Khan

  • CLOUD, MN, US
  • September, 2016

    TARGET: 10 wounded in knife attack in a mall

    ATTACKER: Dahir Ahmed Adan

    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

    BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

    October, 2016

    TARGET: Two police officers wounded in stabbing

    ATTACKER: Belgian national

    KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT

    TARGET: No casualties; vehicle carrying three US soldiers hit by a truck

    ATTACKER: Ibrahim Sulayman

    MALMO, SWEDEN

    October, 2016

    TARGET: No casualties; mosque and community center attacked with Molotov cocktail

    ATTACKER: Syrian national

    HAMBURG, GERMANY

    October, 2016

    TARGET: One killed in knife attack

    ATTACKER: Unknown

    MANILA, PHILIPPINES

    November, 2016

    TARGET: No casualties; failed IED attempt near US Embassy

    ATTACKERS: Philippine nationals aligned with the Maute group

    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

    N'DJAMENA, CHAD

    November, 2016

    TARGET: No casualties; attacker arrested after opening fire at entrance of US Embassy

    ATTACKER: Chadian national

    KARAK, JORDAN

    December, 2016

    TARGET: 10 killed and 28 wounded in shooting at a tourist site

    ATTACKERS: Several gunmen

    BERLIN, GERMANY

    December, 2016

    TARGET: 12 killed and 48 wounded by individual who drove truck into a crowded market

    ATTACKER: Anis Amri

    Domenico Montanaro contributed.

    Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    NPR News' Brian Naylor is a correspondent on the Washington Desk. In this role, he covers politics and federal agencies.
    Jessica Taylor is a political reporter with NPR based in Washington, DC, covering elections and breaking news out of the White House and Congress. Her reporting can be heard and seen on a variety of NPR platforms, from on air to online. For more than a decade, she has reported on and analyzed House and Senate elections and is a contributing author to the 2020 edition of The Almanac of American Politics and is a senior contributor to The Cook Political Report.
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