pardoned four former Blackwater contractors convicted for perpetrating a massacre?

In late December 2020, Trump issued a wave of pardons that included four former Blackwater contractors responsible for the Nisour Square massacre. After 7 years of proceedings, they had been found guilty of a 2007 shooting that left 17 dead and 20 others wounded. An FBI investigation determined that 14 of the 17 dead were unarmed and unjustifiably killed.

Supporters of four former Blackwater security guards
Pardoned war criminals Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough. AP

The United Nation’s human rights office said in response that the pardons were themselves a violation of international law, and could contribute to the normalization of such crimes.

Trump had previously defended others charged and pardoned others convicted of war crimes.

The New York Times – F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause
USA Today – 4 ex-Blackwater guards guilty of deadly Iraq shooting
The New York Times – Trump Pardons Two Russia Inquiry Figures and Blackwater Guards
Reuters – Trump pardon of Blackwater Iraq contractors violates international law – UN
Fox News – UN hits Trump over Blackwater pardons, says move ‘contributes to impunity’
Wikipedia – Nisour Square massacre

claimed that an an ammonium nitrate disaster in Beirut was an intentional bombing?

On August 4, 2020, a fire at the docks of Beirut, Lebanon ignited some 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate, a common compound used for fertilizer and explosives.

During a following press conference, Trump claimed that the explosion “looked like a terrible attack.” When asked to elaborate, Trump remarked,

Well, it would seem like it based on the explosion. I’ve met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was. This was not some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event. This was seems to be, according to them, they would know better than I would, but they seem to think it was a attack. It was a bomb of some kind. Yes.

Department of Defense officials rejected Trump’s claim, saying instead that there was yet no indication of any kind of attack.

Map of Beirut showing approximate location of the blast, and a 2km radius - as the effects of the explosion were felt across the city
August 4th ammonium nitrate disaster in Beirut. Sky News

Ammonium nitrate disasters have happened several times throughout history. The largest non-nuclear bomb in the American arsenal, the MoAB (Mother of All Bombs) has a yield of 11 tons of TNT. The catastrophic explosion in Beirut was equivalent to approximately 1 kiloton of TNT.

Sky News – Beirut explosion: At least 100 dead and 4,000 injured after ‘ammonium nitrate blast’ 
CNN – US defense officials contradict Trump: No indication yet of attack in Beirut
The Independent – ‘It was a bomb’: Trump says deadly Beirut explosion was ‘terrible attack’ – despite no evidence it was deliberate
Wikipedia – Ammonium nitrate disasters
Wikipedia – GBU-43/B MOAB
Wikipedia – 2015 Tianjin explosions (ammonium nitrate explosion used to determine approximate yield by comparison)
Wikipedia – Largest artificial non-nuclear explosions, Rank order of largest conventional explosions/detonations by magnitude

dismissed 109 service member’s traumatic brain injuries as “headaches”?

In the aftermath of Trump’s drone strike on a senior Iranian official, Iran launched a missile barrage at Iraqi military bases housing US soldiers. There were no deaths suffered in the attack.

Trump said afterward that there were no casualties. Within a month, the Department of Defense reported that a total of 109 service members suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Trump downplayed the injuries, saying, describing them as “headaches.”

In Trump’s complete remarks, he discounted the severity of TBIs based on comparison to other injuries:

“I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say, and I can report, it’s not very serious. Not very serious. They told me about it numerous days later, you’ll have to ask the Department of Defense. No, I don’t consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries that I’ve seen. I’ve seen what Iran has done with their roadside bombs to our troops. I’ve seen people with no legs and with no arms. I’ve seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area, that war, in fact many cases, put those bombs, put there by Soleimani, who’s no longer with us. I consider them to be really bad injuries. No, I do not consider that to be bad injuries, no.”

Traumatic brain injuries are forms of brain damage resulting from sudden blows to the head. They have become an increasingly common form of injury among service members since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in part due to the prevalence of IEDs. Its symptoms can range from mild to having a permanent and devastating effect. There have been over 400,000 confirmed cases among US service members since 2000.

Center for Disease Control – Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

The Washington Post – Trump’s no-injuries claim about Iran keeps looking worse
Business Insider – Trump reportedly downplayed the seriousness of military brain injuries again by saying he’s seen worse
Military Times – 109 US troops diagnosed with TBI after Iran missile barrage says Pentagon in latest update
Military.com – Traumatic Brain Injury Overview
Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center – DoD Worldwide Numbers for TBI
Center for Disease Control and Prevention – Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

showed no sympathy to a refugee whose family was murdered by ISIS?

Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nadia Murad visited the White House to speak with Trump and plead for help for her Yazidi people. She had been tortured and sold into sex slavery by ISIS, and even after ISIS’ demise, 95,000 Yazidi refugees couldn’t return home because of ongoing struggles between the Kurdish and Iraqi governments.

Trump had been disinterested throughout the meeting, even as Murad recounted, “All this happened to me. They killed my mom, my six brothers. They left behind them.” Trump asked, “Where are they now?” Murad replied, “They killed them. They are in the mass grave in Sinjar, and I’m still fighting just to live in safe. Please do something.” “I know the area very well,” Trump replied. “I’m going to look into it very strongly.”

Trump then asked why she received the Nobel Prize, about which he had to again explain what she had endured.

The Yazidi people and their plight became worldwide news in 2014, when they were forced to flee their homes in the face of an ISIS offensive. 40,000 men, women, and children were surrounded in the Sinjar Mountains until the Obama administration authorized air-strikes and drops of aid to prevent genocide.

The Washington Post – A Yazidi woman from Iraq told Trump that ISIS killed her family. ‘Where are they now?’ he asked.
USA Today – Iraqi refugee Nadia Murad to Trump: ISIS killed family. Trump responds: ‘Where are they now?’
The Hill – Yazidi woman who won Nobel Prize pleads with Trump to help her people
Wikipedia – Sinjar Massacre, Refugee crisis in the Sinjar Mountains

claimed that he had opposed the Iraq War “from the beginning”?

Trump voiced criticism of the war before many other public officials of the time, however his frequently repeated claim that he opposed the war “from the beginning” is false.

Trump voiced support multiple times, even preceding the invasion, such as in his 2000 book “The America We Deserve” and a 2002 interview with Howard Stern in which he said, “Yeah, I guess so. I wish the first time it was done correctly.”

Trump first criticized the war in 2004, about a year after it began.

During that 2004 interview with Esquire, Trump remarked,

My life is seeing everything in terms of “How would I handle that?” Look at the war in Iraq and the mess that we’re in. I would never have handled it that way. Does anybody really believe that Iraq is going to be a wonderful democracy where people are going to run down to the voting box and gently put in their ballot and the winner is happily going to step up to lead the county? C’mon. Two minutes after we leave, there’s going to be a revolution, and the meanest, toughest, smartest, most vicious guy will take over. And he’ll have weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam didn’t have.

Trump also argued the point throughout the primary and Presidential debates.

His opponent, Hillary Clinton, expressed regret for her Senate vote for the Iraq War in a 2006 interview, saying, “Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn’t have been a vote, and I certainly wouldn’t have voted for it.”

Esquire – Donald Trump: How I’d Run the Country (Better)
CNN – Fact check: Trump falsely claims, again, to have opposed the invasion of Iraq
Snopes – Was Trump Against the Iraq War from the Beginning?
Politifact – Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and authorizing the war in Iraq 

said the military would commit war crimes on his order?

During a Republican primary debate, Trump said that the military would follow his orders, even if the orders were criminal.

His remarks were,

“They won’t refuse. They’re not going to refuse me, believe me. Let me just tell you, if you look at the Middle East, they’re chopping off heads, chopping off the heads of Christians, and anyone else who happens to be in the way, they’re drowning people in steel cages, and he, he now, we’re talking about waterboarding…They then came to me, what do you think of waterboarding? I said it’s fine, and if we want to go stronger, I’ll go stronger, too. Because, frankly, that’s the way I feel.

 

Can you imagine, can you imagine, these people, these animals over in the Middle East, that chop off heads, sitting around talking, and seeing that we’re having a hard problem with waterboarding. We should go for waterboarding, and we should go tougher than waterboarding. That’s what I think, and, and, I’m a leader. I’m a leader. I’ve always been a leader. I’ve never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they’re gonna do it. That’s what leadership is all about.

Trump has also said he would reimpose torture techniques, threatened to target enemy cultural sites, and pardoned US soldiers convicted of war crimes.

Politico – Trump: Military ‘won’t refuse’ my orders
Time – President Trump’s Illegal Military Orders
The Week – Donald Trump doubles down on torture, war crimes

described an inadequate military briefing used to justify an attack on Iran as the “best presentation they’ve ever seen”?

Trump justified a strike on a senior Iranian official and escalated tensions by claiming that he represented an imminent threat, possibly targeting up to four US embassies. At a briefing for Congressional representatives those present reported that they weren’t given any meaningful information, despite asking multiple times about the nature of the imminent threat. Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah described it as “the worst briefing” he’d ever seen on a military issue.

When asked about this, Trump in typical fashion replied some people said that it actually the “best presentation they’ve ever seen.” He provided little further information on the nature of the imminent threat.

Axios – GOP Sen. Mike Lee calls Soleimani briefing the “worst” he’s ever seen
Roll Call – Trump to Lee: Other people called it ‘best presentation they’ve ever seen’

said that his tweets are sufficient notice to Congress for military strikes?

After a senior Iranian official was killed by drone strike, Congressional members balked at how the White House had failed to brief them on the attack. Trump said via tweet that no notice is required (in direct contradiction with the 1973 War Powers Act), but that his Twitter posts would serve as notice to Congress.

He has similarly failed to brief Congress for strikes, including when he told Russia and Turkey of an impending attack on an ISIS leader before anyone in Congress.

Business Insider – Trump claims his ‘Media Posts’ on Twitter now count as official notification to Congress about any plans to attack Iran
Stars and Stripes – Trump claims his tweets are sufficient notice to Congress that US might strike Iran

threatened to bomb Iranian cultural sites?

Amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran following the drone strike of a senior official, Trump threatened to destroy a variety of targets including “some at a very high level & important to Iran & Iranian culture.” The deliberate destruction of cultural sites constitutes a war crime. The Pentagon immediately contradicted Trump by ruling out any such targets.

The threat is in line with similar rhetoric that Trump has employed before, such as the need to target the families of terrorists or reinstate torture techniques.

BBC News – Trump says US ready to strike 52 Iranian sites if Tehran attacks
The New York Times – Pentagon Rules Out Striking Iranian Cultural Sites, Contradicting Trump

revealed the presence of US nuclear weapons in Turkey?

While many NATO members house US nuclear weapons, according to Pentagon spokesman Air Force Lt. Col. Uriah Orland “it is U.S. policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any general or specific location.” During a meeting with the Italian President, Trump confirmed the presence of US nuclear weapons at a specific Turkish air force base.

The Washington Post – Trump appears to confirm U.S. nukes are in Turkey, an admission that would break with longstanding protocol
Associated Press – Some worries about nuclear weapons at Turkey base
CNN – Trump appears to confirm open secret about US nuclear weapons in Turkey

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