Donald Trump brags he would have caught Osama bin Laden before 9/11

Donald Trump has promised to Make America Safe Again, and in order to prove it, he bragged he would have caught Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks even happened, Talking Points Memo reports.

"I would've been tougher on terrorism. Bin Laden would've been caught a long time ago, before he was ultimately caught, prior to the downing of the World Trade Center," Trump told an audience in Cleveland.

Trump also reiterated that he would have voted against the Iraq invasion, despite him being on the record as having been for it. In response to Trump citing a 2004 Esquire article as proof he was against the war, the magazine's editors added a note Thursday to clarify that "the Iraq war began in March 2003, more than a year before this story ran, thus nullifying Trump's timeline." Jeva Lange

Article continues below

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.