
Donald Trump’s love affair with the dog who helped in the raid leading to the death of Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is really picking up steam.
After claiming the name of the dog – who was allegedly injured by al-Baghdadi’s suicide vest after chasing him to the end of a tunnel – was classified information, Mr Trump has proudly revealed the canine’s name to be Conan.
He released this previously “classified” information on Twitter, of course, after earlier captioning a (very badly) photoshopped image of himself placing a paw-shaped medal of honour around Conan’s neck.
Many believed the US president was genuinely trying to convince people he had awarded the dog with a medal using a fake image.
But 10 hours later, Mr Trump thanked Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire for the image, and announced:
Very cute recreation, but the ‘live’ version of Conan will be leaving the Middle East for the White House sometime next week!
It is difficult to tell whether Trump deliberately revealed the name of the pooch after previously claiming it was classified or whether it was a slip-of-the-tweet.
Conan’s White House appearance could be the true test of how much the president’s opinion on canines has changed – usually referring only to dogs in order to insult his enemies and previously saying that the idea of himself owning a dog would 'feel a little phony' along with digging at Obama for having a dog.
His shift in opinion appeared to have occurred rapidly during his announcement on Baghdadi’s death, when he referred to Conan as “beautiful” and “talented” mere minutes after stating the “whimpering” Isis leader had “died like a dog”.
Here are a few of the president’s greatest hits, in which he shows impressive creativity in pushing the animal to its limits in the way it can be used to insult presidential opponents, pundits, and happy-go-lucky acoustic guitarists.
And last but not least…
While Mr Trump's change of heart regarding canines is probably welcome, some questioned how the Vietnam war veteran in the real photo would feel about being replaced with a dog.
Wonder how James McCloughan feels about this...? https://t.co/8QOVQ5pBVa https://t.co/VsDrgq7gQD https://t.co/DezH4OJRs5— Jeryl Bier (@Jeryl Bier) 1572458747
But apparently he was cool with it.
The NYT was so shook by the photoshop of the dog getting the Medal of Honor that they reached out to the Vietnam ve… https://t.co/w0luwXQOvf— Andrew Clark (@Andrew Clark) 1572470840
People couldn’t help but imagine other scenarios.
@JerylBier Apparently the brave dog was dancing with Melania Trump at the Inauguration Ball as well. #PhotoDogHero https://t.co/lXTzTvGbzK— Stefan - #ToriesRuinedBritain (@Stefan - #ToriesRuinedBritain) 1572476001
@tomiahonen @realDonaldTrump DON JR: ERIC! ERIC! ERIC: What? DON JR: That's new mom's favorite picture you messed u… https://t.co/1kw2b2BPsy— Stefan - #ToriesRuinedBritain (@Stefan - #ToriesRuinedBritain) 1572482505
@realDonaldTrump AMERICAN FAILURE! https://t.co/5msdVULBdR— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE) 1572460915
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