Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi's Replacement Terminated by US Troops, Tweets Trump

Being the apparent successor to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a lifetime appointment, but you might not live very long.

Bagdadi's successor is also dead, President Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. According to Mr. Trump, the unidentified "number one replacement has been terminated by American troops."

"Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's number one replacement has been terminated by American troops. Most likely would have taken the top spot - Now he is also Dead!" the president tweeted.

The White House did not immediately clarify who Trump meant. But a State Department official confirmed Monday that it did kill ISIS spokesman Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir in a strike on Sunday.

Mr. Trump has taken pride in the death of al-Baghdadi, which he alluded to in a cryptic tweet Saturday night before making a formal announcement from the White House's Diplomatic Room Sunday morning. On Monday, the president continued to highlight al-Baghdadi's death as a mark of the United States' success against ISIS.

"He was a sick and depraved man and now he's dead," Mr. Trump told police chiefs during a speech in Chicago. "He's dead, he's dead as a door nail. And he didn't die bravely either, I will tell you that. He should have been killed years ago. Another president should have gotten him.

"But to me it was a very important, I would say all the time, they would walk into my office, 'sir we killed this leader at a level, this leader at-' I said I never heard of him, I want al-Baghdadi, that's the only one I know now, I want al-Baghdadi, get him, and they got him."

Trump tweets "declassified" photo of dog wounded in al-Baghdadi raid. The Pentagon is expected to release video of the raid that killed al-Baghdadi.