In the wake of Friday night’s missile attack on Syrian chemical weapon facilities, President Trump issued a Saturday morning celebratory tweet, the last two words of which hit a little too close to home for former Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.
“A perfectly executed strike last night,” Trump tweeted. “Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!”
A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2018
Fleischer didn’t think Trump’s tweet was a great idea.
“Um,” tweeted Fleischer. “I would have recommended ending this tweet with not those two words.”
Um…I would have recommended ending this tweet with not those two words. https://t.co/h5Fl7kjea6
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) April 14, 2018
And the former Bush press secretary wasn’t the only one to notice.
Mission Accomplished.
Good for ridiculous Tom Cruise movies.
Bad for ridiculous Republican Presidents.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) April 14, 2018
Air strike over. Done. “Mission accomplished”.
97% of U.S. deaths in Iraq came after Bush announced “mission accomplished.”
Just saying.
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) April 14, 2018
I didn’t think I could be shocked by a tweet anymore but “mission accomplished” was so surprising I had to double check that it was not a spoof.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) April 14, 2018
Did he really say Mission Accomplished?
Never say Mission Accomplished. https://t.co/6CbyJCqiT2
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) April 14, 2018
Being the astute student of presidential history that he is, you would think that Donald Trump would avoid any statement that implies a ‘mission accomplished’ in a troubled region
— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) April 14, 2018
Mission accomplished in the Middle East for the thousandth time in the last thirty years.
— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) April 14, 2018
Finally, Fleicher offered a history lesson for those who might not be familiar with the irony:
The crew asked the WH staff if it would be ok to hang a banner saying “Mission Accomplished”. We readily agreed. We hung it in an obviously prominent place that also sent a message as Bush spoke to the nation.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) April 14, 2018