Donald Trump claims he warned about Osama Bin Laden ‘a year before’ 9/11 attacks: ‘You got to take care of him’

US President Donald Trump reignited a long-standing claim that he predicted the threat posed by Osama bin Laden a year before the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, while paying tribute to the US Navy SEALs for killing the al-Qaeda leader.

Speaking at an event in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday to commemorate the US Navy’s 250th anniversary, Trump praised the elite force for their role in the 2011 Abbottabad raid that killed bin Laden, declaring: “History will never forget that it was the SEALs who stormed the compound at Osama bin Laden and put a bullet in his head.”

Donald Trump went on to recall his alleged early warnings about bin Laden’s growing influence before the 9/11 attacks. “Please remember I wrote about Osama bin Laden exactly one year before he blew up the World Trade Centre. And I said, ‘You got to watch Osama bin Laden,’” Trump said.

“But I said one year before… that I saw somebody named Osama bin Laden and I didn't like it. And you got to take care of him. They didn’t do it. A year later, he blew up the World Trade Centre.”

What did Trump say about his warnings on Bin Laden?

Trump insisted that his remarks about bin Laden were made in a book published before the attacks, claiming that the media had failed to acknowledge his foresight. “The fake news would never let me get away with that statement unless it was true,” he said, referencing an interview with former Fox News host Pete Hegseth. “So (I) got to take a little credit, because nobody else is going to give it to me. You know the old story, they don't give you credit. Just take it yourself.”

The US president also referred to the operation that killed bin Laden in 2011, vividly describing the aftermath. “It was the US Navy that dumped bin Laden’s wretched corpse off the decks of the USS Carl Vinson to sink into the dark abyss,” Trump said.

What happened in the 2011 Bin Laden raid?

The raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was authorised by then US President Barack Obama and executed by Navy SEAL Team 6 in May 2011.

Obama had announced the mission’s success in a televised address from the White House, declaring: “I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”

Trump’s renewed remarks come amid his repeated criticism of former President Joe Biden’s handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. During his speech, Trump claimed the US could have easily won the two-decade war.

“But we got politically correct. ‘Let’s take it easy.’ We’re not politically correct anymore. Just so you understand, we win. Now we win. We don’t want to be politically correct anymore,” he said.