August 5, 2016

Donald Trump Admits He Never Watched That “Top Secret” Iran Video

Surprise! The footage does not exist.


Speaking at a campaign rally in Daytona, Florida on Wednesday, Donald Trump spoke in length about having watched a video that allegedly showed Iranian officials “pouring” $400 million off of a plane on the same day Tehran released four American prisoners back in January.

His remarks, which immediately sparked concern that the Republican nominee was divulging classified information, aligned with a report that the US had sent $400 million to Iran on the same day that it freed the American prisoners, a payment critics have decried as ransom. Both U.S. officials and Trump’s own campaign staff were quick to dismiss Trump’s assertion that any such video even existed. Nevertheless, the real estate magnate continued repeating his claim.

But by Friday, Trump appeared to change his story. He tweeted the following mea culpa:

And there you have it—Trump did something truly shocking on Friday: admit he was flat out wrong.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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