Politico | Donald Trump shows off Conan the military dog from Baghdadi raid, calling it ‘the ultimate fighter’
- US president says White House bestowed canine with medal and plaque during surprise Rose Garden appearance
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Caitlin Oprysko on politico.com on November 25, 2019.
“We actually just gave Conan a medal and a plaque,” Trump told reporters in the Rose Garden. “I think Conan knew exactly what was going on. But a dog that is very, very special.”
The dog rocketed to fame when Trump gave it a shout-out in his address to the nation announcing the Baghdadi raid last month.
“Our K9, as they call – I call it a dog, a beautiful dog, a talented dog – was injured and brought back,” he told the press. The dog’s participation in the raid quickly went viral, leading Trump to declassify a picture of Conan via tweet.
“We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!” he wrote.
Conan’s surprise appearance came one day before Trump is set to participate in the annual pardoning of Thanksgiving turkeys.
Trump tweets photo of special forces dog that chased Baghdadi in tunnel
The president and first lady Melania Trump flanked the dog on either side as the press listened, while Vice-President Mike Pence hung back and pet Conan sporadically as the dog sat still by the legs of a handler.
“The dog is incredible. Actually incredible," Trump said. “We spent some good time with it. So brilliant and so smart."
He added: “They are very special dogs. They are very hard to get, this particular dog is. This is the ultimate fighter, the ultimate everything."
