President Trump said Monday that former President Bill Clinton missed his opportunity to kill 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden and called the nation of Pakistan “fools” for never tipping the U.S. off to the terrorist’s whereabouts.
“Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!..” Trump tweeted Monday morning.
Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018
….We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018
The tweet came roughly 24 hours after the president told “Fox News Sunday” that Pakistan knew where bin Laden was hiding and refused to tell the U.S. He also refused to give credit to retired admiral and Navy SEAL William McRaven for leading the May 2011 mission that ultimately killed bin Laden, calling him a supporter of “Hillary Clinton” fan and “Obama-backer.”
“Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?” Trump said. “You know, living — think of this — living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan in what I guess they considered a nice mansion, I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer. But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there.”
Asked whether he would give McRaven and his team credit for bin Laden, Trump said: “They took him down, but — look, look, there’s news right there, he lived in Pakistan, we’re supporting Pakistan, we’re giving them $1.3 billion a year, which we don’t give them anymore, by the way. I ended it because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us.”
