President Trump: Syria Didn't Hit Any Missiles

HIALEAH, FL — President Trump went on the offensive Monday, dismissing Syrian claims that it shot down any of the "way over 100" missiles fired by coalition forces during this weekend's attack. He also touted his massive tax cuts one day before millions of Americans face a deadline to file their personal income taxes and one day after former FBI Director James Comey called him "morally unfit" to lead the nation. The president appeared at a roundtable discussion with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta and Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon.

"Since election day we've created three million new jobs," the president said in this predominantly Hispanic city not far from Miami to applause and cheers. "If I would have said that prior to the election, that we'll create in a short period of time three million jobs, they would have said 'that's ridiculous. That's an exaggeration. How can it be possible?' We would have taken a lot of heat."

The president stressed unemployment rates are at record lows for Hispanics, women and African-Americans.

"Are there any Hispanics in the room? No, I doubt that," the president quipped.

Republicans have pinned their midterm election hopes on selling the benefits of the tax law to Americans and the president's visit was meant to convince voters that they are better off in their wallets and pocketbooks since Trump took office in January 2017.

He said a number of companies have shared their tax savings with workers in the form of bonuses, something the president said was a pleasant surprise.

"So many of the big companies, they're giving bonuses to the people that work for the companies. That was unexpected. Nobody thought that was going to happen," he said. "You see what happened to your wallet. You're getting a lot more money in your weekly or monthly checks than you ever thought possible."

Trump said taxes had been among the highest in the world from a business standpoint and he pointed to the difficulty in filling out income tax forms for typical Americans.

"Remember this is the last time you are going to fill out that long, complicated, horrible return," he said ahead of the tax deadline.

National Security Advisor John Bolton drew applause when he was recognized by the president at Monday's event, to which Trump asked: "Are you giving him all the credit? You know that means the end of his job."

Trump also joked about Syria's claims that it knocked down missiles.

"With way over 100 missiles shot in, they didn't shoot one down. The equipment didn't work too well, their equipment," he said. "You heard, oh they shot 40 down. Then they shot 15. Then I called: 'No sir. Every single one hit its target.'"

President Trump watched “bits and pieces” of Comey’s network television interview and didn’t learn anything, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday.

Huckabee Sanders said of the hour-long appearance with ABC News’ George Stephanopolous that the president “didn’t watch the whole thing."

The president plans to host Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his Florida club this week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump is greeted by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) as he arrives for a roundtable discussion about the Republican $1.5 trillion tax cut package he recently signed into law. Trump was joined by local business owners as well as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.