President Donald Trump had a strong message for the Islamic State on Friday, just two days after the truck attack in New York City, declaring that when terrorists hit America, "we are hitting them ten times harder."
The president took questions as he was leaving for his trip to Asia, and one reporter asked what the "military is doing that is different" following Tuesday's terror attack. The attack in New York City killed eight people and injured eleven, and ISIS has claimed the accused attacker to be a "soldier of the caliphate."
"What we're doing is every time we're attacked from this point forward, and it took place yesterday, we are hitting them ten times harder," Trump said. "So when we have an animal do an attack like he did the other day on the West Side of Manhattan, we are hitting them ten times harder."
After the suspect was shot in the gut and taken into custody, authorities found a note in which he declares allegiance to the Islamic State. While in the hospital recovering from a bullet wound, the suspect requested an ISIS flag be displayed. That request was denied.
"They [ISIS] claimed him as a soldier–good luck," Trump continued. "Every time they hit us [and] we know it’s ISIS, we hit them like you folks won't believe."
Trump also took to Twitter on Friday morning, calling the truck attacker a "degenerate animal" who ISIS has claimed as "their soldier."
"ISIS just claimed the Degenerate Animal who killed, and so badly wounded, the wonderful people on the West Side was "their soldier," Trump tweeted.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/926419647708258304
The president added that, as a result, the "Military has hit ISIS much harder" in the days following the attack, and ISIS will pay a "big price" for any attack on the United States.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/926421589159182339