More than two months after Mr. Trump was sworn in as president, the Islamic State’s spokesman on Tuesday released the group’s first official statement on him, in an audio recording calling him an “idiot” and deriding his attacks on Muslims, among other claims. Trump is examining ways to accelerate the U.S.-led coalition campaign that U.S. and Iraqi officials say has so far been largely successful in uprooting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.  Although members and supporters of the Islamic State have frequently commented on President Trump and his policies, analysts have been puzzled by the terrorist group’s official silence about him.
– The Islamic State has delivered its first public pronouncement about President Trump, and it's one that mocks him as an "idiot." The translation from Reuters is as follows: "America you have drowned and there is no savior, and you have become prey for the soldiers of the caliphate in every part of the earth, you are bankrupt and the signs of your demise are evident to every eye." The spokesman continues: "There is no more evidence than the fact that you are being run by an idiot who does not know what Syria or Iraq or Islam is." The 36-minute audio does not specifically mention policies such as Trump's controversial travel ban, notes NBC News. Trump has vowed to "obliterate" ISIS, and the group's silence toward him until now had baffled those who keep tabs on the group—particularly because President Obama had been such a frequent target, reports the New York Times. The newspaper quotes a senior research fellow in London with a possible explanation: In a sense, he says, ISIS viewed Obama's more favorable standing among Muslims as more threatening. "They assumed that with [Obama] you need to tease out those subtleties. 'He calls Muslims part of American family, but he doesn’t really believe that.' Whereas with Trump, he openly declared Islam hates us. There are no subtleties to unmask."