What Really Happened When Melania Trump Went to the Situation Room and Watched Special Forces Kill the ISIS Leader with the Help of Conan the Dog
Melania Trump revealed that it was her husband Donald Trump who invited her to the White House Situation Room to watch the October 2019 raid to kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdad.
“I was blindsided when I received a phone call saying the president wanted to see me in the Oval Office,” she writes in the forthcoming memoir Melania, a copy of which was obtained by the Daily Beast.
‘I was instructed to accompany him to the Situation Room – a first and unique experience for me.’
“Watch this incredible action at work,” Donald whispered to me,” she wrote.
It is unusual for a first lady to be in the White House Situation Room, a room in the basement that is heavily guarded and contains the country’s top secrets. It was originally founded in 1961 and is where leaders gather for secret meetings. It has the technology to show military operations from all over the world live on TV screens.
Melania Trump with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, hero dog Conan and his handler at a November 2019 event in the White House Rose Garden
The first lady does not have security clearance, but the president can give one to anyone he wants.
“The mission to eliminate the leader of ISIS was a major objective, and the successful completion of this operation would be a major achievement,” Melania wrote. ‘Donald wanted to share this crucial moment with me.’
At the time, al-Baghdadi was the most wanted terrorist in the world.
And it was Melania who suggested to Trump to emphasize the role that Conan, the heroic military dog, played in the action, and Trump’s Defense Secretary Christopher Miller in his memoir.
Miller was the first to reveal that Melania was present during the raid, noting that she was shocked when someone asked what would happen if al-Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest.
“His head will pop off like a champagne cork,” an aide said, shocking the first lady.
Conan, a Belgian Malinois, helped military special forces track down al-Baghdadi through a tunnel during the attack in Syria.
The dog was injured, but when he recovered he came to the White House to be honored in the Rose Garden.
“We were honored to welcome him to the White House and to present him with a medal for his exceptional courage,” the former first lady writes in Melania, which will be published on Tuesday.
The October 2019 raid to take out al-Baghdadi was dubbed Operation Kayla Mueller, after the 26-year-old humanitarian worker from Arizona who died in Syria in 2015.
It is suspected that al-Baghdadi ordered Mueller’s death. The ISIS leader reportedly held her hostage and called her his “ISIS bride.”
Kayla Mueller was kidnapped a day after entering Syria on August 4, 2013. She had been living in Turkey for the past eight months doing humanitarian work. She had crossed into Syria with a friend to go to a Doctors Without Borders complex.
Kayla’s parents, Marsha and Carl Mueller, were heavily critical of Barack Obama for not doing enough to save their daughter. Obama had authorized a raid, but commandos found Kayla and the other hostages had been moved.
Donald Trump in the White House Situation Room during the raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – from the president’s right: Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, and Christopher Miller, who was then a member of the National Security Council; to the president’s left are Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Army General Mark Milley
The Muellers supported Donald Trump for president and were guests of Melania at his 2020 State of the Union address.
President Trump honored them and Kayla in his remarks. Melania greeted them at the event.
After the raid was a success and al-Baghdadi was killed, then-President Trump asked how to announce it.
Melania’s memoir will be released on October 8
It was Melania who suggested that he personally make a public statement, Miller writes in his book ‘Soldier Secretary’.
“You need to talk about the dog,” she said. ‘Everyone loves dogs.’
Trump did that.
“Our ‘K-9,’ as they call it,” Trump said of Conan in his remarks. ‘I call it a dog. A beautiful dog – a talented dog – was injured and brought back.”
Moreover, in his announcement of al-Baghdadi’s death, Trump compared the ISIS leader to a dog, a slur on the way he used it: “He died like a dog.” He died like a coward. The world is a much safer place now.’
Trump later received Conan, the hero dog, in the White House Rose Garden, where the dog was recognized for his service.
“Conan has done a fantastic job and we are very honored that Conan is here and that we presented Conan with a certificate and an award,” Trump said at that ceremony.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (above right) reportedly ordered the death of Kayla Mueller (above left), the 26-year-old humanitarian aid worker from Arizona who died in Syria in 2015
Melania Trump shakes hands with Marsha Mueller, Kayla Mueller’s mother, during President Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address
The attack was led by Green Berets and US Army Rangers. US helicopters entered Syrian airspace, where they could be detected by Syrian and Russian radar.
Ultimately, Al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest while holding two of his own children, killing them. Two of his wives were also killed.
He had fled into a tunnel network beneath the compound, wearing a suicide vest and chased by US military dogs.
The American soldiers dug through the rubble to find his remains, which were identified by DNA.