White House releases photo of Trump, advisers monitoring al-Baghdadi raid in Situation Room

by Justine Coleman - 10/27/19 12:30 PM ET

The White House released a photo of President Trump and his advisers in the Situation Room monitoring the U.S. raid on Saturday night that ended with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death.

Presidential assistant Dan Scavino, Jr. posted the photo on Twitter showing Trump and Vice President Mike Pence monitoring the raid in Syria. Trump and Pence were joined by National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and Brigadier Gen. Marcus Evans.

pic.twitter.com/AwTJuLs4um

— Dan Scavino Jr. (@Scavino45) October 27, 2019

The president on Sunday morning confirmed the two-hour raid resulted in the death of al-Baghdadi, saying the U.S. brought “the world’s Number One terrorist to justice.”

“The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him,” Trump said.

{mosads}Trump said he had known for three days about planning for the operation, but declined to inform congressional leaders because he was afraid of “leaks.” The president later noted he talked with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) about the mission after it was over.

Trump had tweeted Saturday night that something “very big” had happened as reports circulated with rumors of the ISIS leaders death.