The internet erupted on Monday after President Donald Trump tried to take credit for a military operation that killed the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks on the United States — which Trump did not actually lead.
Trump was speaking about the Iran war during a high-stakes press conference at the White House when he made the claim that he was behind the death of Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda.
"I did one other, but this one was not picked up: Osama bin Laden," Trump said.
"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," he added.
But Trump had not ordered the killing of bin Laden. During former President Barack Obama's presidency, from 2009 to 2017, the leader of the terrorist group was a high-priority target for U.S. military and intelligence agencies. U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six killed bin Laden on May 2, 2011 during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, an operation that took place under Obama's administration.
People had reactions to Trump's unfounded comments on social media:
"Trump now claiming credit for killing Osama Bin Laden. He is so jealous of Barack Obama," progressive news reporter Alex Cole wrote on X.
"He didn’t kill Osama Bin Laden obviously. And as @ddale8 has repeatedly pointed out, he never issued a Bin Laden warning in his 2000 book. It’s totally made up by him and he keeps repeating it and the assembled reporters let him. Sigh. Our media is broken," Mehdi Hasan, founder and CEO of news outlet Zeteo, wrote on X.
"Delusional liar," White House columnist and podcast host Brian Karem wrote on X.
"Just an absolutely [SIC] lunatic at this point," army combat veteran and Democratic Missouri congressional candidate, wrote on X.
"25th Amendment time. Past time," Norman Ornstein, political scientist and contributing editor to The Atlantic, wrote on X.
25th Amendment time. Past time. https://t.co/MVLLZqCHW8
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) April 6, 2026