appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Associated Press

Two high-risk raids. Two dramatic moments in the White House.
Photos taken in the White House Situation Room during the killings of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Saturday and of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden eight years earlier capture the vastly different styles of two American presidents.
The White House on Sunday released a photo of US President Donald Trump with five of his senior national security advisers monitoring the Saturday night operation against Baghdadi in Syria.
The photo shows the six men, all in dark suits or military uniform, posing for the camera and staring straight forward with stern expressions as they sit around a table. The presidential seal gleams on the wall over Trump’s head.
The photo invites comparisons to the Situation Room photo released by President Barack Obama’s White House following the May 2011 operation in which Navy Seals killed bin Laden.
In this unposed scene, 13 faces are fully or partially visible in the crowded tableau.

Obama, wearing a polo shirt and light coat, is hunched forward and perched on a folding chair slightly off centre. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the most expressive face in the group, holds her hand over her mouth as Defence Secretary Robert Gates sits next to her, his arms tightly crossed.
How Donald Trump gabbed too much about the raid that killed Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
The Trump photo, with the president in the centre and looking severe, is more formal and captures the current president’s interest in conveying the power and grandeur of his office. It also reflects the tight circle of advisers from whom he solicits advice.
To his right are national security adviser Robert O’Brien, Vice-President Mike Pence and Defence Secretary Mark Esper. To his left are General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Brigadier General Marcus Evans, the Pentagon’s deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism.

The jumble of Ethernet cables, legal pads and computers covering the boardroom table stands in sharp contrast to the formality of the moment.
The less formal Obama photo from 2011 crackles with suspense as the president’s team monitors the raid where Navy Seals killed bin Laden in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The room is so crowded the presidential seal on the wall is barely visible.
Seated next to Obama are Brigadier General Marshall Webb, who was communicating with the Seals commander Admiral William McRaven, who was in Afghanistan overseeing the covert special operations team that stormed the compound.

In the back of the room, Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken can be seen peeking around the taller White House chief of staff Bill Daley to get a better view of the scene unfolding on a video monitor.
The packed room seems to reflect Obama’s more expansive team of advisers and his interest in receiving a broad array of opinions.
Trump, in announcing Baghdadi’s death on Sunday, did not shy from making his own comparison to the bin Laden raid.
“This,” he said, is “the biggest there is”.


Why tougher US visa rules for skilled foreign workers may end in exodus to Asia, Europe

Territorial integrity is ‘red line’ for Europe, Finland warns after US Greenland threats

China equities set for boost as Trump-Xi meeting raises hopes of thaw

Washington hotel shooting exposes gaps in security protocols for Trump and other VIPs

Donald Trump

How Trump’s Situation Room photo compares to Obama’s

The Donald Trump photo, with the president in the centre and looking severe, is more formal and captures the current president’s interest in conveying the power and grandeur of his office. Photo: Reuters

A satellite view of the reported residence of ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to the source, near the village of Barisha, Syria, collected on September 28, 2019, is shown in this handout image released on October 27, 2019 by Maxar Technologies. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO. MANDATORY CREDIT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

FILE -In this May 1, 2011 file image released by the White House and digitally altered by the source to diffuse the paper in front of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/The White House, Pete Souza, File)

FILE - This file image made from video posted on a militant website April 29, 2019, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, being interviewed by his group's Al-Furqan media outlet. The IS erupted from the chaos of Syria and Iraq's conflicts and swiftly did what no Islamic militant group had done before, conquering a giant stretch of territory and declaring itself a "caliphate." U.S. officials said late Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019 that al-Baghdadi was the target of an American raid in Syria and may have died in an explosion. (Al-Furqan media via AP, File)

How Donald Trump gabbed too much about the raid that killed Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

US President Donald Trump speaks announcing at the White House on Sunday that Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead after being targeted by a US military raid in Syria. Photo: AP

People look at a destroyed houses near the village of Barisha, in Idlib province, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019, after an operation by the U.S. military which targeted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group. President Donald Trump says Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead after a U.S. military operation in Syria targeted the Islamic State group leader. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A satellite view of the reported residence of ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to the source, near the village of Barisha, Syria, collected on September 28, 2019, is shown in this handout image released on October 27, 2019 by Maxar Technologies. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO. MANDATORY CREDIT.     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Iraqi youth watch the news of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi death, in Najaf, Iraq October 27, 2019. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

US President Trump announces death of Isis leader Baghdadi

Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared for the first time in five years in a propaganda video in April this year. File photo: AFP

President Donald Trump stands during a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony for auto racing great Roger Penske in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

News

World

United States & Canada


White House releases posed photo of US President Donald Trump in the Situation Room after elusive Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a US raid



Photos taken in the White House Situation Room during the killings of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Saturday and of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden eight years earlier capture the vastly different styles of two American presidents.


Islamic State

Islamic militancy

How Trump’s Situation Room photo compares to Obama’s

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} White House releases posed photo of US President Donald Trump in the Situation Room after elusive Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a US raid

White House releases posed photo of US President Donald Trump in the Situation Room after elusive Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a US raid