When Donald Trump told the nation on Sunday that an ISIS raid had led to the death of notorious Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, he did so in his typical self-aggrandizing way, which is the only way he knows
 Which meant discussing a highly technical military operation like he was discussing the amenities at Mar-a-Lago, piling on the embellishments, the bragging, and, it would seem, the all-out lies! Despite the fact that Trump claimed the ISIS leader was “whimpering and crying and screaming” like a “dog” when U
S. troops descended on him, no one has any idea where the president got that description
 Five senior administration officials told the Daily Beast they had no clue where that detail came from, and, listening to the president’s account in real time, messaged each other questions like “uh where is he getting that?” Similarly confused were Pentagon officials, some of whom told reporters Asawin Suebsaeng and Erin Banco that it would have been impossible for Trump to hear Baghdadi’s voice during the Situation Room livestream Saturday night because, wait for it, the stream did not have audio
 While two senior officials said the president could have spoken to commandos on the ground, that is not how past operations have worked
 Also at a loss were acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen
 Mark Milley, who were asked about the comments on Monday and who told the press they didn’t have those details and didn’t know who Trump’s supposed source on them was
 And, naturally, that’s not the only characterization of the president’s that has been called into question: Luckily, the president, for whom lies serve the same purpose as oxygen does for other humans, appears to be unbothered by the criticism
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