US President Barack Obama will make a rare primetime address to the nation Sunday laying out how he will keep Americans safe and defeat the Islamic State group, days after 14 people were shot dead in California.

On Saturday, Obama declared that the United States ‘will not be terrorised,’ as the IS extremist group praised the couple behind Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino as ‘soldiers’ of its self-proclaimed caliphate.

‘We are Americans. We will uphold our values — a free and open society,’ Obama said in his weekly radio address. ‘And we will not be terrorised.’

In this week’s address, the President offered his condolences to the families and community of the victims of the San Bernardino shooting.  

He recognised the possibility that the two attackers may have been radicalised, a reminder to all of us that we need to work together to prevent people from falling victim to attempts by extremist organisations to encourage violence. 

The President called on Congress to close the loophole that allows people on the No-Fly list to purchase guns, a simple and logical step that would make it harder for potential terrorists to acquire weapons.  And he reminded us that we cannot accept mass shootings like this one as routine in our country, and emphasised that above all else, his priority is the safety and security of the American people.