Trump’s comment on ambush draws laughs
President Donald Trump drew laughs from some of his aides as he joked about what a “rough business” terrorism is while discussing an ambush in Niger that left four U.S. soldiers dead last year, according to a covert recording released Monday.
Mr. Trump made the comments during a closed-door meeting at the White House in the wake of the Oct. 4, 2017, attack on the U.S. special forces, who were advising local troops fighting Islamic extremists in the African nation.
Former White House communications aide Omarosa Manigault Newman secretly recorded the conversation and provided a tape of it to MSNBC on Monday afternoon.
The president can be heard on the tape telling his aides that the U.S. and Nigerian troops “got attacked by 50 real fighters,” who he claimed were in Africa because the American military had chased them out of the Middle East.
“So it’s a rough business. I wouldn’t, I don’t think I’d want to be a terrorist right now,” Mr. Trump said, prompting guffaws from staffers in the room. “It’s not a good life. … The reason they’re there is because we forced them out, and it’s not nearly as many, it’s not nearly as intense, but it’s pretty intense, you see that happening. So that’s that.”
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was present for the meeting, did not return a request for comment.
Close vote in Sweden
STOCKHOLM — Sweden woke Monday to the prospect of weeks of political uncertainty after the country’s two rival blocs failed to secure a clear governing majority in elections that saw a boost for a far-right party amid growing discontent with large-scale immigration.
With most of the ballots counted, the governing center-left bloc had a razor-thin edge over the center-right opposition Alliance, with roughly 40 percent each.
Sunday’s election saw the Sweden Democrats, an antiimmigrant party with roots in a neo-Nazi movement, win about 18 percent, up from the 13 percent it gained four years earlier.
Brexit deal possible
The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator was cautiously optimistic about the prospects of a deal with Britain by early November.
At a conference in the Alpine lake resort of Bled in northwestern Slovenia, Michel Barnier said a Brexit deal was “not far” and that some 80 percent of the withdrawal agreement had been agreed. Though Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, an agreement will have to be reached months before hand in order to get the necessary ratifications though such places as the British Parliament and the European Parliament.
Libyan oil firm attacked
BENGHAZI, Libya — Security forces loyal to Libya’s U.N.-backed government stormed the headquarters of the country’s national oil company in the capital Tripoli shortly after gunmen invaded the building, shooting randomly, setting off explosions and taking hostages, officials said.
The Health Ministry said two people were killed and 10 others wounded in the attack.
The company confirmed those figures in a separate statement, adding that they were all company employees. The officials said explosions rocked the building soon after the gunmen stormed it, starting a fire that swiftly spread.