President Trump's Staffers Laugh At Him After 'Terrorist Attack' Remarks: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — Officials sitting in the Situation Room in the West Wing of the White House reportedly started laughing when President Donald Trump incorrectly referred to the tragedy in Manila as a "terrorist attack."

NBC Nightly News, citing U.S. intelligence officials, tweeted that "a laugh went up in the Situation Room" after Trump suggested the incident at a casino in Manila, which was later determined to be a botched robbery, was a terrorist attack.

"I would like to begin by addressing the terrorist attack in Manila," Trump said before his remarks Thursday announcing the United States' withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. "It is really very sad as to what's going on throughout the world with terror. Our thoughts and our prayers are with all of those affected."

In fact, there was no terrorist attack in the Philippines. Authorities believe that a lone gunman, who was described by witnesses as a tall, white foreigner, tried to rob a resort and casino and set some tables on fire in the process, which caused dozens of injuries and deaths. The man was not targeting anyone in the room, however.

US intel official: Pres. Trump "was freelancing" with the terrorism declaration and "a laugh went up in the Situation Room" when he made it.
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) June 1, 2017

Trump isn't the only one with egg on his face over the comments. Many on the alt-right also immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was an attack by ISIS.

Paul Joseph Watson, an editor at Alex Jones' site InfoWars, sarcastically tweeted: "There's very little information about this attack in Manila, but I do know for certain that it has #NothingToDoWithIslam," adding in another tweet, "Dozens of tourists injured during ISIS attack on hotel in Manila. Ramadan month of peace continues."

Trump and some of his followers on the alt-right have developed a reputation for playing fast and loose with facts. Trump reportedly fell for an internet hoax recently when he was passed a printout of a fake Time magazine cover purportedly from the 1970s that appears to be warning of a global Ice Age, prompting staffers to quickly intervene before he started sharing it with the world.

Trump had admitted multiple times he doesn't bother to fact check the information he comes across.

"Hey, Bill, Bill, am I gonna check every statistic?" Trump said on "The O'Reilly Factor" in November 2015 after being questioned about a false statistic he tweeted grossly overstating how often black people kill white people. "I get millions and millions of people, @RealDonaldTrump, by the way."

Earlier this year, Trump made the easily debunkable claim that he had gotten the most Electoral College votes since Ronald Reagan, when in fact every president since Reagan other than George W. Bush scored much larger victories than Trump. When a reporter confronted him on the claim, Trump essentially shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, no, I was given that information," he said. "I don’t know, I was just given that. We had a very, very big margin."

Image via Gage Skidmore