Donald Trump on Tuesday accused President Barack Obama of prioritizing “the enemy” over the American people after Obama delivered a scathing critique of the presumptive GOP nominee’s counter-terrorism proposals.
In an emailed statement to the Associated Press, Trump charged that Obama “claims to know our enemy and yet he continues to prioritize our enemies over our allies, and for that matter, the American people.”
“When I am president, it will always be America first,” Trump added.
Those comments came hours after the President gave a lengthy address on how to address the threat of attacks by Islamic State adherents in the wake of a horrific mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. Obama said that Trump’s proposals to ban Muslim immigrants and surveil U.S. Muslim communities would “make us less safe” and encourage ISIL’s narrative that Islam and the West are at war.
Trump was quick to criticize the president after news of the attack broke, alleging that he may even be cooperating with jihadi extremists.
“We’re led by a man—look, guys, we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind, people can’t believe it,” Trump said Monday.
“They cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can’t even mention the words radical Islamic terrorism,” he continued. “There’s something going on. It’s inconceivable. There’s something going on.”
Obama said in his speech Tuesday that conservatives who insist on using the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” are engaging in “political distraction” rather than actually trying to address the threat of terrorism.
