Fact Check: Did Trump take credit for operation that killed the mastermind behind 9/11?
WASHINGTON, DC: Following the press conference on Monday, April 6, by President Donald Trump about the ongoing war with Iran, a rumor began circulating on social media platforms claiming that the president claimed to have been the one to take out the 9/11 mastermind, sparking speculations. Let us analyze and fact-check the claim.
Claim: Donald Trump said that he took out the 9/11 plotter
Several social media users alleged that Trump claimed to have killed the Saudi Arabian militant leader during the press conference in which the president discussed the US mission to rescue airmen who were shot down over Iran.
In response to the claim, Democratic candidate for Congress in Massachusetts, Dan Koh, on X said, "Didn't realize Operation Neptune Spear was run out of...Palm Beach."
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland school shooting in 2018, also said on X, "Um, did he just claim that he took out O**** B** L****? Unlike him, I do not have dementia, and can say with certainty that @BarackObama did that."
Similar reactions suggested that Trump took credit for killing bin Laden.
Fact Check: False, Trump did not take credit for militant leader's killing
During the conference, Trump said, “I had killed Qasem Soleimani, who was an evil genius, and the reason I did it, I heard he was going to knock out five of our military bases. And had he lived, I believe we would have been fighting perhaps a different Iran right now, because he's never, he's never been replaced, you know."
Trump continued, "And I also, I did one other, but this one was not picked up, O**** b** L****. If you read my book, I said you got to take him out, one year before the World Trade Center came down, so I wish you'd read the book. But as a president, to be a good president, I believe you have to have good instincts, and a lot of this is instinct."
Trump, in the book 'The America We Deserve’, only mentions b** L**** once.
The passage said: “Instead of one looming crisis hanging over us, we face a bewildering series of smaller crises, flash points, standoffs, and hot spots. We’re not playing the chess game to end all chess games anymore. We’re playing tournament chess—one master against many rivals."
“One day, we’re all assured that Iraq is under control, the U.N. inspectors have done their work, everything’s fine, not to worry. The next day, the bombing begins. One day, we’re told that a shadowy figure with no fixed address named O**** b**-L**** is public enemy number one, and U.S. jetfighters lay waste to his camp in Afghanistan."
"He escapes back under some rock, and a few news cycles later, it’s on to a new enemy and new crisis.”
Trump did not directly take credit for the 2011 operation that killed bin Laden in Pakistan. Instead, he referenced his 2000 book, stating he had suggested b** L**** should be removed a year before the 9/11 attacks.
