- Donald Trump said he was worried if he shared details of the planned raid it would be leaked in Washington
- He confirmed he did not tell Nancy Pelosi that the U.S. was carrying out an operation to capture of kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
- Al-Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest, killing himself and three of his children, after he was cornered by U.S. Special Operations in the overnight raid
- Trump did not tell the House Speaker or Gang of Eight on the Intelligence Committee of the planned attack
Donald Trump said Sunday morning he didn’t inform Nancy Pelosi in advance of the U.S. operation to raid ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s lair in Syria.
‘No, I didn’t do that,’ Trump said when a reporter queried if he had shared plans of the raid with the House Speaker before it was carried out overnight.
‘I wanted to make sure this kept secret. I didn’t want to have men lost, and women. I don’t want to have people lost,’ the president added, claiming he told no one outside the circle of those involved in approving and organizing the operation.
In the early hours of Sunday morning – Saturday night EST – U.S. Special Operations carried out a mission in northwest Syria that resulted in the death of al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. Al-Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest, killing himself and three of his children, when he was cornered by U.S. forced at his lair in a village known for smuggling.
At a separate point while addressing the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room, Trump insisted he didn’t want to notify too many people of the planned raid or of its success until U.S. forces were out of the area so he wouldn’t risk their lives with a leak.