US President Donald Trump has lashed out at mainstream media who reported he was playing golf during an assault on the American Embassy in Iraq.
“The Fake News said I played golf today, and I did NOT!” Trump hit back at the claims, noting he held meetings at different locations while “closely monitoring the US embassy situation in Iraq” and adding he is still doing so.
“The Corrupt Lamestream Media knew this but, not surprisingly, failed to report or correct!” Trump, whose cortege was indeed spotted close to a golf course near his Mar-a-Lago estate before it shortly pulled off, fumed.
On Tuesday, Iraqi protesters set fire to the exterior outer fence of the US Embassy in Baghdad, in response to American airstrikes against the Iraqi Shia Kata’ib Hezbollah militia.
US officials instantly rushed to put the blame for the attack on Iran, with POTUS Trump threatening Tehran with countermeasures.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed outright the “empty” accusations by the Trump administration and called on the White House to put an end to its “destructive policies” in the Middle East.
Overall 4,000 US servicemen are reportedly prepared for a possible transfer to the region Fox News wrote, adding that hundreds of paratroopers are already heading for the region. US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper tweeted Tuesday that he had authorised the immediate deployment of additional forces to the Middle East to mitigate what he characterised as "increased threat levels against" American personnel.
US aircraft had carried out “precision defensive strikes” in Iraq and Syria after a US defence contractor was killed last Friday near Kirkuk, Iraq. The Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella group of Shia militias in Iraq that includes Kata'ib Hezbollah, said that 25 fighters were killed and 51 others injured in the US attack.