News organisations have reported extensively about terrorist attacks around the world, including the two in France mentioned by the President. Neither Trump nor his spokesmen offered a single example of an attack that had gone unreported to support his accusation.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer sought to clarify Trump's remarks, telling reporters travelling on Air Force One that the President believes some terrorist attacks have been "underreported".
"He felt members of the media don't always cover some of those events to the extent that other events might get covered," Spicer said. "Protests will get blown out of the water, and yet an attack or a foiled attack doesn't necessarily get the same coverage."
Spicer also said that he would draw up a list later of "several instances" in which an attack did not get "the coverage it deserved."
Carl Bildt, a former Prime Minister of Sweden, tweeted a response to Trump's remarks: "Trump in Tampa speech claims that terror attacks 'all over Europe' are so frequent that media no longer reports them. That's ludicrous."
Trump's terrorism blame-game is in keeping with how he ran his campaign, looking for scapegoats at nearly every turn. He often blamed his own failings - a poor debate performance or a gaffe or a primary loss - on the media or other perceived enemies, and he fed his own conspiracies that his adversaries were out to undermine him.
"Trump acts instinctively rather than strategically," said David Frum, a senior editor at the Atlantic and a White House speechwriter under President George W. Bush who is sharply critical of Trump. "His instinct to pass blame is very strong ... I don't know whether people will succumb to this."
Trump's approach is not without risk. He could come across to many Americans as thin-skinned if he skirts the responsibilities of being commander in chief and looks to assign blame to outside forces.
Jennifer Palmieri, a Democrat who served as communications director on Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and in the Obama White House, said Trump is using the tactics of authoritarian leaders.
"He's behaving like a demagogue," Palmieri said. "It's chilling because the president of the United States should be responsible for keeping the American people safe, but is seeking to pre-emptively blame a judge."
She added, "If an attack happens on American soil when he's commander in chief, then he's responsible. It's chilling to see the president of the United States almost wish for an attack for the purpose of blaming somebody else."
In the days since Robart's ruling last Saturday, Trump sent nine tweets about the judge and stoking fear that suddenly the door had been opened for terrorists to enter the country and cause "death & destruction".
"The judge opens up our country to potential terrorists and others that do not have our best interests at heart. Bad people are very happy!" the President said in one tweet sent yesterday.
In his commentary, Trump has ignored the screening measures and other counterterrorism precautions that have long been in place by US customs and border officials.
