Following the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, former White House photographer Pete Souza has attempted to out Trump and his team for allegedly staging a photo in which they are seen to be watching the deadly strike occur. Souza highlights the camera’s IPTC data, which indicates the photo’s timestamp to be some 90 minutes after the strike occurred.
Having served as the chief official White House photographer for former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, Souza hasn’t shied away from letting his opinion of Trump be known, being heavily critical of the President in the past. Taking to Twitter, he compared the time the strike was reported to have happened, with the timestamp of the camera’s data. Bakr al-Baghdadi was initially said to have been killed around 3.30pm – but the photo was taken at 5.05pm.
Others backed up his claims, with media reports suggesting Trump only returned to the White House at 3.30pm, after spending the day playing golf. Some, however, challenged Souza’s claims, suggesting the raid could have continued through to the later time. Souza acknowledged this potential version of events, later posting:
Before drawing definite conclusions about the photo, reporters need to nail down the actual timeline of the raid.
However, Souza has since gone on to follow it up with an update from the New York Times, who reported that helicopters left Iraq at 5pm Washington time. It’s about a 70-minute flight to Syria. “So [the] actual raid had to happen some time after 6:10PM,” Souza concluded.