Former President Donald Trump, while announcing his 2024 presidential campaign, repeatedly claimed that there were no terrorist attacks during his presidency. This assertion has been proven incorrect by numerous verified incidents of terrorism that occurred during his time in office.
During his presidency, Donald Trump frequently commented on terrorist attacks that took place in the United States. In his 2018 State of the Union address, he referenced ‘two terrorist attacks in New York’ in ‘recent weeks.’ He also visited Pittsburgh and El Paso following attacks in those cities and met survivors of an attack in California at the White House.
Despite these acknowledgments, Trump has consistently claimed throughout his 2024 presidential campaign that no terrorist attacks occurred during his administration. He first made a vague version of this claim in his 2022 campaign announcement speech, made it explicit by 2023, reiterated it at a CNN presidential debate in June, and repeated it at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in September. ‘We did not have one terror attack during my administration,’ he stated during the rally.
This claim is demonstrably false. Numerous terrorist attacks took place during Trump’s presidency, including several high-profile incidents in New York City. In October 2017, an Islamic extremist killed eight people in a truck attack in New York City, carried out in support of ISIS. Trump spoke about this attack repeatedly, denouncing the perpetrator as an ‘animal’ and expressing concern for the victims’ suffering.
In December 2017, another ISIS supporter detonated a bomb in the New York City subway system, injuring individuals nearby. Trump issued a written statement condemning the attack, highlighting it as ‘the second terror attack in New York in the last two months.’ Furthermore, a 2019 attack at a military base in Florida by an extremist member of Saudi Arabia’s military killed three U.S. servicemen and injured others. This attack was also noted by Trump and his administration as being motivated by jihadist ideology and linked to al Qaeda.
Several other terrorist attacks occurred during Trump’s presidency. For instance, in 2018, a White nationalist committed the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in US history by killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Trump visited the site in the aftermath. In 2019, a White nationalist’s attack on a California synagogue resulted in one death and three injuries, which Trump addressed publicly and honoured survivors at the White House. Additionally, in 2017, a White nationalist murdered a Black man in New York City to incite a race war, a crime the perpetrator himself termed a ‘terrorist attack.’ Trump’s Justice Department also classified this as terrorism.
Another significant incident during Trump’s time in office was an attack in 2017 by an anti-Republican extremist on Republican lawmakers practising for a charity baseball game in Virginia. The chief state prosecutor termed this an ‘act of terrorism.’ In 2019, a mass shooting perpetrated by a White nationalist at a Walmart in Texas killed 23 people and injured 22 more. Trump’s Justice Department labelled this massacre ‘an act of domestic terrorism,’ noting it targeted Latinos. Additionally, one of Trump’s supporters carried out a ‘domestic terrorist attack’ in 2018 by mailing improvised explosive devices to CNN, prominent Democratic officials, and others, as per Trump’s Justice Department.
These incidents clearly contradict Trump’s assertions, establishing that multiple significant terrorist attacks occurred during his presidency, involving both jihadist and domestic extremists.
It is evident, based on documented incidents, that numerous terrorist attacks occurred during Donald Trump’s presidency. His repeated claims to the contrary are false and contradict verified events during his time in office.
