While he was in North Carolina, President Trump met with the Army special operations unit that was involved in the raid that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
Trump visited Fort Bragg on Thursday, where he participated in a “troop engagement” that was done privately and closed to the media, according to the Associated Press. While there, the president presented the group with a “Presidential Unit Citation” for their valor. First lady Melania Trump was also present.
“It was a really special moment,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said after the meeting. “Meant a lot to the president. He was with our heroes for about an hour just having casual conversations, answering questions.”
The Presidential Unit Citation is an honor awarded to units that display “gallantry, determination, and esprit de corps in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions as to set it apart and above other units participating in the same campaign,” according to the Army. “The degree of heroism required is the same as that which would warrant award of a Distinguished Service Cross to an individual.”
The visit came just over a year after U.S. special operations forces stormed a location in Syria’s Idlib Province in an effort to capture or kill the ISIS leader. During the raid, Baghdadi ran into a dead-end tunnel with three children and killed himself by detonating a suicide vest.
Since his death, ISIS has struggled to regain territorial control and has suffered several other blows. Just hours after the raid, the U.S. and Syrian Kurdish forces successfully killed the ISIS spokesman.
After the elimination of Baghdadi, ISIS appointed Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahma al Mawla as its leader. Al Mawla, also known as Hajji Abdallah and Abu-Umar al Turkmani, was labeled a “specially designated global terrorist” in March, and the U.S. placed a $10 million bounty for information about his location or identity.
