‘Unwell’ Trump goes on nonsensical rant about Osama bin Laden, Pete Hegseth

While celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy on Sunday, President Donald Trump went on a confusing rant involving Osama bin Laden and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Trump appeared to confuse dates while claiming he identified bin Laden as a threat before U.S. intelligence.

“Please remember I wrote about Osama bin Laden exactly one year ago, one year before he blew up the World Trade Center. And I said, ‘You gotta watch Osama bin Laden!’ And the fake news would never let me get away with that statement unless it was true,” Trump said during his speech to sailors in Norfolk, Virginia.

“But I said one year before to Pete Hegseth … in the book I wrote, whatever the hell the title, I can’t tell you. But I can tell you there’s a page in there devoted to the fact that I saw somebody named Osama bin Laden and I didn’t like it. And you gotta take care of him. They didn’t do it. A year later he blew up the World Trade Center, so gotta take a little credit because nobody else is gonna give it to me,” the president continued.

CNN journalist Daniel Dale, who writes about Trump’s falsehoods, reported the president’s claims about his book are untrue.

“The book, titled ‘The America We Deserve,’ did not tell anyone they needed to ‘watch’ or ‘take care of’ bin Laden. That wouldn’t have been particularly prescient advice even if Trump had offered it in January 2000 – bin Laden was already a well-known threat to Americans at the time – but the book simply did not offer it,” Dale wrote.

The book contained just one reference to bin Laden, according to Dale: “Instead of one looming crisis hanging over us, we face a bewildering series of smaller crises, flash points, standoffs, and hot spots. We’re not playing the chess game to end all chess games anymore. We’re playing tournament chess – one master against many rivals. One day we’re all assured that Iraq is under control, the UN inspectors have done their work, everything’s fine, not to worry. The next day the bombing begins. One day we’re told that a shadowy figure with no fixed address named Osama bin-Laden is public enemy number one, and U.S. jetfighters lay waste to his camp in Afghanistan. He escapes back under some rock, and a few news cycles later it’s on to a new enemy and new crisis.”

Trump’s bin Laden remarks raised eyebrows of the president’s critics.

“Does Trump even know what year it is?” tweeted California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“The President is unwell. How is this not breaking news right now?!” added Malcolm Kenyatta, a Pennsylvania state representative and former vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Popular X account Meacham challenged Trump supporters to justify the president’s conduct.

“I defy any MAGAt to watch this and claim he’s okay,” he tweeted.