No evidence for Trump claim on 'terrorists' - government sources

By Mark Hosenball and Jonathan Landay

 

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly for an exclusive interview with Reuters journalists in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that U.S. authorities had "caught 10 terrorists," citing it as a reason for why the United States should build a wall on its Mexican border, but four government sources said there was no recent evidence of terrorism suspects being caught along the border.

 

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said: "We do not have evidence of known or suspected foreign terrorist organizations trying to infiltrate the southern U.S. border.”

 

Three national security officials agreed with that view, saying they knew of no recent border-related arrests. The three officials also asked not to be identified.

 

In a contentious White House meeting on Tuesday with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, Trump demanded $5 billion in taxpayer funding for his wall, threatening a federal shutdown if he did not get the money.

 

"People are pouring into our country, including terrorists," he said. "We have terrorists. We caught 10 terrorists over the last very short period of time. Ten. These are very serious people. Our border agents, all of our law enforcement has been incredible what they've done.

... We need the wall."

 

The president did not say when or where the "terrorists" were caught. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his remarks.

 

One national security source said U.S. authorities had in recent years captured one terrorism suspect trying to cross into the United States over a land border.

 

Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said on June 12 at a security forum that her agency identifies and stops terrorists worldwide who would otherwise go undetected.

 

"In fact, on average, my department now blocks 10 known or suspected terrorists a day from travelling to or attempting to enter the United States," she said.

 

Ahead of Nov. 6 congressional elections, Trump and his allies said the United States was under threat from a caravan of migrants moving north mostly from Central America towards the U.S.-Mexico border. He also said, without providing evidence, that "criminals and unknown Middle Easterners" were mixed in with the caravan, a claim immigration advocates disputed.

 

Days before the elections, Trump ordered more than 5,000 troops to the border.

 

Democrats have proposed $1.3 billion in spending on general border security as part of a package that must pass by Dec. 21 to avert a partial shutdown of the federal government.

 

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball and Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-12

5 minutes ago, webfact said:

The president did not say when or where the "terrorists" were caught.

So it appears to be yet another complete fabrication. I find it hard to believe that Mr. Trump would know about said arrests, but none of the agencies who would actually be involved in them know what he is talking about. Honesty is something that should be treasured by powerful leaders, yet checking sites like politifact, sadly show there is a very wide gap between the truth and Mr. Trumps political rhetoric.

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said

Too much of this nonsense. Just like Strzok and Page did until they were outed. Can't trust the people hiding in the shadows.  Either be brave enough to put your name to your claims or be quiet. 

2 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

So it appears to be yet another complete fabrication. I find it hard to believe that Mr. Trump would know about said arrests, but none of the agencies who would actually be involved in them know what he is talking about. Honesty is something that should be treasured by powerful leaders, yet checking sites like politifact, sadly show there is a very wide gap between the truth and Mr. Trumps political rhetoric.

Trump will never, EVER, stop with the lying. 

 

No Donny, you're thinking of the plot of "Sicario 2".

 

And no terrorists where arrested because there weren't any, it was mistaken intelligence.

 

And it was a MOVIE, not NEWS.

 

 

 

Most likely 10 Taco vendors feeding the migrants.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

"We have terrorists. We caught 10 terrorists over the last very short period of time. Ten. These are very serious people.

It was Santa Claus and his reindeer: Donner, Comet, Prancer, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer, Blitzen, Vixen and Rudolph. This is how the orange Grinch jailed Christmas.

4 hours ago, zydeco said:

Too much of this nonsense. Just like Strzok and Page did until they were outed. Can't trust the people hiding in the shadows.  Either be brave enough to put your name to your claims or be quiet. 

Because if there's one thing we can count on,  it's Trump's scrupulous fidelity to speaking the truth.

By now, the Orange Buffoon could declare, he built the wall on the southern border by hi,self, over night and his idiot disciples would eat the BS up with a shovel!

Well...som nam na!

Democrats don't want to call anything terrorism, Trump likes to play fast and loose with the facts. If it comes from a politicians mouth, 80% f the time it is 60% not totally true. Go figure. 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

U.S. authorities had "caught 10 terrorists," citing it as a reason for why the United States should build a wall

If the US did catch 10 "terrorists," it was WITHOUT A WALL.

Thus, a wall isn't needed.

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

If the US did catch 10 "terrorists," it was WITHOUT A WALL.

Thus, a wall isn't needed.

Stop being logical, you are in Thailand.

3 minutes ago, theonetrueaussie said:

Let's face it whether you like or hate trump has nothing to do with it, you are abusing someone for wanting to secure his countries borders and keep the people safe. The irony is the people here wanting open borders in the USA are the same people who cheer whenever there is a clamp down on visas here. 

The same old nonsense. No one is abusing Trump for wanting to secure his country's borders. They're saying along with virtually all the experts that a wall is no way to do it. And just because you're opposed to the wall, that doesn't mean you're in favor of open borders. And have you done some kind of poll about those who are allegedly in favor of open border but cheer a clampdown on visas here?

You pack a lot of false and tendentious comments into a very small space. 

And  really if you want to lie about your political leanings,  you should hide access to your previous comments on Thaivisa.com. Gratuitous references to Hillary Clinton are a dead giveaway.

4 hours ago, DM07 said:

By now, the Orange Buffoon could declare, he built the wall on the southern border by hi,self, over night and his idiot disciples would eat the BS up with a shovel!

Well...som nam na!

He has declared that! 

 

No joke. There was an ad and everything. He did not claim it was finished but he claimed it is being constructed with pics and all.

 

Meanwhile, journalists went down to find the spot in the pics and it turned out to be current border wall repairs.

 

Can't make this stuff up it is truly amazing. 

50 minutes ago, direction BANGKOK said:

He has declared that! 

 

No joke. There was an ad and everything. He did not claim it was finished but he claimed it is being constructed with pics and all.

 

Meanwhile, journalists went down to find the spot in the pics and it turned out to be current border wall repairs.

 

Can't make this stuff up it is truly amazing. 

Lol! I had forgotten this fake news by Trump! ????

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/28/trump-border-wall-construction-photo-tweet

There is little doubt that Trump is a psychopath. An amazing new book by Kevin Dutton "The wisdom of psychopaths", spells out this man to an incredibly astonishing degree.

 

Dutton’s real argument seems to be that sometimes we could all use a little of what he terms “the seven deadly wins”—ruthlessness, charm, focus, mental toughness, fearlessness, mindfulness, and action. Yes, I daresay we could—but those behavioral features do not represent a “dose of psychopathy,” to use Dutton’s expression. In reality, a touch of psychopathy would mean a malignant streak of brutality, oiliness, predatory single-mindedness, callousness, carelessness, exclusive self-involvement, and clinical impulsivity.

https://newrepublic.com/article/111087/wisdom-of-psychopaths-kevin-dutton

 

And I might take the liberty of adding a total lack of conscience, remorse, or empathy.            

Off topic posts and the replies have been removed. 

2 hours ago, theonetrueaussie said:

Well for starters I am not american, nor do I really care left or right. But let's face it trump could cure cancer tomorrow and most of the TV posters here would be abusing him for taking jobs away from medical personnel.

Let's face it whether you like or hate trump has nothing to do with it, you are abusing someone for wanting to secure his countries borders and keep the people safe. The irony is the people here wanting open borders in the USA are the same people who cheer whenever there is a clamp down on visas here. 

The irony is (because you missed it) the people wanting a wall are almost all the descendants of immigrants, many of whom were escaping poverty, war, violence and/or persecution.

 

This might differ from your own family’s story of migration to what is now called Australia.

 

 

2 hours ago, theonetrueaussie said:

Irony again is I bet most of those experts live in walled/Gated communities, Funny how realtors always sell a Walled community as safer for you but apparently building a wall for your country will do nothing eh just like the Israeli wall did not reduce terrorism....oh wait!

LIke you said earlier, you are not an American.

 

A declaration made superfluous by your ensuing comments.

2 hours ago, UncleTouchyFingers said:

 

Horsechit. Ive seen you personally post & basically cheer on a forced demographic change as a way dilute the republican party through migration. You know what you're doing, and you know its wrong, thats why you thinly veil it. 

Getting this ‘Horsechit’ of yours back on topic.

 

Trump is being called out as a liar over his statement regarding the arrest of 10 terrorists at the southern border.

 

Do you have evidence he was telling the truth?

Just now, Chomper Higgot said:

The irony is (because you missed it) the people wanting a wall are almost all the descendants of immigrants, many of whom were escaping poverty, war, violence and/or persecution.

 

Thats not called irony, thats called a straw man.

 

So because the world at that time was spreading and conquering (everyone was doing it) (even the people that are now called "Mexicans") that somehow, hundreds of years later we should allow unfettered migration. 

 

Nope, that doesn't follow. Your low key guilt trip to manipulate people into thinking what you want them to is noted though. 

Trump will say or do anything to achieve his goals. The entire administration stands for denial of truth. 

 

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are "vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based" and "science-based."

17 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Getting this ‘Horsechit’ of yours back on topic.

 

Bit rich coming from a dude who just posted like 5 off topic posts in a row. 

 

18 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Trump is being called out as a liar over his statement regarding the arrest of 10 terrorists at the southern border.

 

Try don't read very well do you. This will be the second time youve been blatantly and intentionally wrong & hyperbolic and I've had the pleasure of pointing this out to you. 

 

Show me where he said "the arrest of 10 terrorists at the southern border."

 

In your following apology, you can abbreviate my username to "UTF" for brevity. 

4 minutes ago, UncleTouchyFingers said:

 

Bit rich coming from a dude who just posted like 5 off topic posts in a row. 

 

 

Try don't read very well do you. This will be the second time youve been blatantly and intentionally wrong & hyperbolic and I've had the pleasure of pointing this out to you. 

 

Show me where he said "the arrest of 10 terrorists at the southern border."

 

In your following apology, you can abbreviate my username to "UTF" for brevity. 

OK my bad. Correction as follows:

 

Trump has been called out as a liar regarding his statements regarding 10 terrorists being caught.

 

 

Getting this ‘Horsechit’ of yours back on topic, do you evidence that he is telling the truth.

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, UncleTouchyFingers said:

 

Bit rich coming from a dude who just posted like 5 off topic posts in a row. 

 

 

Try don't read very well do you. This will be the second time youve been blatantly and intentionally wrong & hyperbolic and I've had the pleasure of pointing this out to you. 

 

Show me where he said "the arrest of 10 terrorists at the southern border."

 

In your following apology, you can abbreviate my username to "UTF" for brevity. 

Thank you for stressing that Trump is incoherent, as he cited it as a reason for building a wall on the southern border! ????

Well just in case 10 terrorists had effectively been arrested elsewhere, which does not seemed to be confirmed either

4 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Trump has been called out as a liar regarding his statements regarding 10 terrorists being caught.

 

Weird.

 

6 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

do you evidence that he is telling the truth.

 

I 'do evidence' this bit from the OP that you clearly missed:

 

Quote

Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said on June 12 at a security forum that her agency identifies and stops terrorists worldwide who would otherwise go undetected.

 

"In fact, on average, my department now blocks 10 known or suspected terrorists a day from travelling to or attempting to enter the United States," she said.

 

You can start your apology something like:

 

Lord & High King UTF, Best Poster in all of the TVF Realm, I sincerely apologize for.... 

2 hours ago, theonetrueaussie said:

Irony again is I bet most of those experts live in walled/Gated communities, Funny how realtors always sell a Walled community as safer for you but apparently building a wall for your country will do nothing eh just like the Israeli wall did not reduce terrorism....oh wait!

A walled community may be sold as safer but how much safer is it really from people determined to get in. As for the Israeli wall, that's a very expensive wall to build and patrol but since it's built to keep out armed enemies they've decided to do it. The people illegally entering the US are overwhelmingly not looking to harm US citizens. If they were, the Americans most opposed to it would be those who live near the border. But, in fact, the wall is very unpopular on the border. In fact it's so unpopular that out of all the congressional representatives,  republican or democrat, whose district borders on Mexico, not one supports the building of the wall. Not one.

Awww come on guys and gals it’s donalds negotiating style first lie then threaten then have a school boy temper tantrum threaten again if that fails then you can wreck everyone’s Christmas so you feel better!!!

2 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

As for the Israeli wall, that's a very expensive wall to build and patrol but since it's built to keep out armed enemies they've decided to do it.

 

Sooooooo, walls work. Good to know. 

 

6 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

In fact it's so unpopular that out of all the congressional representatives,  republican or democrat, whose district borders on Mexico, not one supports the building of the wall. Not one.

 

Most of the counties that border Mexico are blue. Weird little fact eh?

1 hour ago, UncleTouchyFingers said:

 

Weird.

 

 

I 'do evidence' this bit from the OP that you clearly missed:

 

 

You can start your apology something like:

 

Lord & High King UTF, Best Poster in all of the TVF Realm, I sincerely apologize for.... 

In case you had not noticed, there's a difference between someone prevented from travelling to or from entering the USA, because of any suspicion of link to terrorism, and someone actually "caught" for terrorism.

Anyway, why bother? As you rightly mentioned, it is not particularly related to the southern border....