Trump boasts that he pointed out Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11!

President Trump boasted on Monday that he “pointed” out Osama bin Laden before the 2001 World Trade Center attacks in one of his books and chided former President Clinton that he “famously missed his shot” at killing the terrorist leader.

“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,” the president wrote on Twitter on Monday. “We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!”

He also touted his administration’s decision in September to cancel $300 million in military aid to Pakistan because it wasn’t doing enough to root out terrorists.

“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!,” he said.

Trump wrote in “The America We Deserve,” which was published in January 2000, about bin Laden, but did not predict that the madman would be the architect of a plot to crash planes into the World Trade Center.

The president likened the threats facing the US to a chess game and said the country must defend itself against a number of rivals, including bin Laden.

“One day we’re told that a shadowy figure with no fixed address named Osama bin-Laden 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,” he wrote in the book.

In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” Trump belittled retired Admiral William McRaven, a retired Navy SEAL, who oversaw the 2011 operation that took out bin Laden for not killing the terrorist sooner.

“OK, he’s a Hilary Clinton backer and an Obama-backer, and frankly … wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that? Wouldn’t it have been nice? You know, living – think of this – living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan,” said Trump, who took a medical deferment for a bone spur to get out of serving during the Vietnam War.

McRaven, who in February 2017 said Trump’s continued assault on the media is the greatest threat to democracy he’s seen in his lifetime, rejected the president criticism of him later Sunday.

“I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else,” McRaven, who did not endorse a candidate in 2016, said. “I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked for. I admire all presidents, regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and who use that office to bring the nation together in challenging times.”

“I stand by my comment that the President’s attack on the media is the greatest threat to our democracy in my lifetime,” he continued. “When you undermine the people’s right to a free press and freedom of speech and expression, then you threaten the Constitution and all for which it stands.”

NY Post