President Donald Trump on Thursday praised a Republican congressman for body-slamming a reporter last year, calling him a "tough cookie" and saying he thinks it might have helped him win election in Montana.
At a campaign rally in Missoula, Trump lauded Rep. Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for an attack on Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs. The attack came a day before Gianforte won a 2017 special election to serve the remaining 18 months in the House term vacated by now-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
"Any guy that can do a body slam — he's my kind of guy," Trump said to cheers and laughter from the crowd. "He's a great guy, tough cookie."
His remarks praising Gianforte come amid an international furor over the apparent assassination of a Washington Post columnist, who, according to an account in Turkey's Yeni Safak newspaper, allegedly had his fingers cut off and was decapitated inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago.
In the case of Gianforte, witnesses including members of a Fox News crew say Gianforte became enraged over what he perceived as biased coverage before body-slamming Jacobs, throwing him to the ground and punching him.
Gianforte initially misled investigators about what had happened, falsely claiming that Jacobs had grabbed him by the wrist and pulled both of them to the floor, according to documents released under a court order following requests from news agencies.
The president said he was in Rome with other world leaders when he heard about what had happened.
"And I said, oh, this is terrible. He's going to lose the election," Trump recalled. "And then I said, well, wait a minute. I know Montana pretty well. I think it might help him. And it did."
Gianforte pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in June 2017 and said in an apology letter that he alone was responsible for the attack. He paid a $385 fine and completed 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management counseling. He also donated $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Trump referenced Gianforte again later in the rally when discussing former Vice President Joe Biden, who once said he would "beat the hell out of" Trump if they were in high school.
On Biden challenging him to a fight, Trump said, "He'd be down, faster than Greg would take him down."
Gianforte, who attended the rally with the president, is up for re-election in November and faces former state legislator Kathleen Williams. The president's next stop on his three-day trip out West is Arizona.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.
The Houthis said they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defense Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.
The Houthis described the downing as happening Thursday over their stronghold in the country's Saada province.
Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi's slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.
Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least five drones to the rebels counting Thursday's shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this year.
Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land.
The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in the last months. However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the last week.
A Houthi supporter raises a mock rocket during a rally against the U.S. and Israel and to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, April. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
