Overview
- President Trump told reporters that officials could have prevented the World Trade Center attacks if they had heeded his warning about Osama bin Laden.
- He made the remarks during a gaggle aboard Air Force One alongside Sen. Lindsey Graham and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
- Graham’s comments about celebrating the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro prompted Trump to reference bin Laden and his book.
- Fact checks report that The America We Deserve mentions bin Laden briefly and contains no specific warning that he would carry out 9/11.
- The book predicted a major terrorist attack on the United States but did not identify al-Qaeda or bin Laden, and by 2000 U.S. agencies had already flagged him as a leading threat.