President Barack Obama said on Thursday that the U.S. had previously disclosed the $400 million payment to Iran and argued that the payment was made in cash was because of existing sanctions in place against Iran.
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Trump’s campaign told ABC News today that Trump was referencing a video he’d seen on Fox News of the American prisoners released in Geneva. The timing of the transfer coincided with the release of four US prisoners from Iran.
The administration has insisted the money was separate from the prisoner release, part of a $1.7 billion payment stemming from an unfulfilled arms deal – a payment the administration announced in January.
Some commentators initially anxious that the video Trump was talking about was classified footage that he had been shown from the top-secret intelligence briefings major party presidential nominees receive; however, according to Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, those briefings had not yet started. But while he tempers his claims somewhat, by this point his campaign had already said he had mistakenly been talking about video not of cash transfer, but of the hostages in Geneva.
In reality, what Trump saw was stock footage of another plane that was being used by cable news to report on the Iran payment story. A United States government plane waited nearby to bring back to the U.S. the men released from imprisonment in Iran the day before.
“It was interesting because a tape was made, you saw that?” It was a tape that was a ideal angle – nice and steady. We got hostages home and we took a legal claim, that was a legit claim, and bargained it down to a fraction and we paid that claim off.
The Trump campaign was quick to clarify, with spokeswoman Hope Hicks saying they were referencing public footage.
“I mean, who would ever think they would be taking all of this money off the plane and then providing us with a tape?”
Soon thereafter, the United States helped airlift $400 million worth of Swiss francs and euros to Iran. “With the airplane coming in, nice plane … and the money coming off, I guess”.
A number of senior U.S. officials told the Associated Press they were not aware of any video showing the cash transfer.
The bombastic Trump added that the tape was “given to us” by Iran to “embarrass our country and embarrass our president”, suggesting that the supposed footage was released by Iranian intelligence.
“I’ll never forget the scene this morning”, Trump told the Florida crowd on Wednesday.
Trump, however, was reportedly still making the same claims about the video at a campaign rally later in the day.
“It’s a military tape. Put Ivanka in! You know that, right?”
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Trump emphatically admitted to the mistake in a tweet sent Friday morning.
