2020. 09. 27.

Trump says he had 'a shot' to take out Syria's Assad, but ex-Defense chief Mattis opposed it | Fox News

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DONALD TRUMP · Published September 15

Trump says he had 'a shot' to take out Syria's Assad,

but ex-Defense chief Mattis opposed it
'I would've rather taken him out,' Trump said

By Adam Shaw | Fox News

Trump: Mattis was a highly overrated general, a bad leader

President Trump on Tuesday said he had “a shot” to take out Syrian President Bashar al-
Assad but didn’t take it because then-Defense Secretary James Mattis opposed the plan.

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2020. 09. 27. Trump says he had 'a shot' to take out Syria's Assad, but ex-Defense chief Mattis opposed it | Fox News

“I would've rather taken him out. I had him all set. Mattis didn’t want to do it. Mattis was a highly
overrated general," Trump said on "Fox & Friends."

ISRAEL LAUNCHES AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA ON 9/11 TO DESTROY MISSILES

Trump was asked about a passage in Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward’s 2018 book,
“Fear,” in which Trump purportedly called Mattis and said he wanted to kill Assad after the Syrian
dictator launched a chemical attack on civilians in 2017.

“Let’s f---ing kill him! Let’s go in. Let’s kill the f---ing lot of them,” Trump said, according to
Woodward.

According to Woodward, Mattis told Trump he would get on it but then told an aide “we’re going
to be much more measured.” Eventually, his team developed a plan for an airstrike on targets
that Trump eventually ordered.

Trump on Tuesday said Mattis was a “terrible general” and a “bad leader” but said he didn’t
regret not taking out Assad.

“I don’t regret that. I could have lived either way with that. You know I considered him certainly
not a good person, but I had a shot to take him out if I wanted to, and Mattis was against it,” he
said. “Mattis was against most of that stuff.”

TUCKER CARLSON CLAIMS BIDEN, HARRIS ARE PLANNING 'A NEW WAR' IN SYRIA IF ELECTED
IN NOVEMBER 

Trump's comments on Assad contradict his past statements about Woodward's reporting. In
2018 Trump said an assassination was "never even discussed."

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2020. 09. 27. Trump says he had 'a shot' to take out Syria's Assad, but ex-Defense chief Mattis opposed it | Fox News

“I heard somewhere where they said the assassination of President Assad by the United States.
Never even discussed, the book is total ction,” Trump said in the Oval O ce in September 2018.

“No, that was never even contemplated, nor would it be contemplated and it should not have
been written about in the book,” he said.

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In the interview Tuesday, Trump also noted how U.S. attacks, launched after Mattis resigned in
2018, took out ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and Iranian general Qassem Soleimani
in 2020.

“I took out Soleimani as you know, took out al-Baghdadi. These are two of the biggest terrorists,”
he added. “Al-Baghdadi founded ISIS. He was trying to build it again after I wiped it out.”

Adam Shaw is a reporter covering U.S. and European politics for Fox News.. He can be reached
here.

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