On Wednesday morning, President Trump told a national television audience that the Iranian missiles fired at U.S. troops in Iraq the night before “were paid for by the funds made available by the last administration”—a clear reference to the Iran nuclear deal crafted under President Obama and scrapped by Trump.
A few hours later, Chuck Hagel, who served as secretary of defense under Obama, branded the president’s statement as “an ignorant and completely false charge to say — that the last Administration funded the missiles that were fired at our troops.”
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax, Hagel, who was Obama’s pentagon chief from 2013-15, insisted that “anyone who is remotely knowledgeable about the Iranian problem knows this is nonsense of the highest order.”
Hagel’s salvo is expected to be the first from several alumni of the Obama administration in response to Trump’s claim that their Administration was responsible for the missiles fired at U.S. troops in Iraq.
Hagel,70, also served as a Republican U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1996-2008.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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