Melania Trump Watched Raid On ISIS Leader From Situation Room, Suggested Promoting ‘Hero Dog’ Story: Book

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Melania Trump was behind her husband’s administration pushing stories about the “hero dog” Conan after a 2019 raid on an ISIS leader, and she reportedly made this recommendation after witnessing the raid from inside the Situation Room.

Christopher Miller, former acting Defense Secretary under Donald Trump, wrote about the incident in a memoir about his time in the White House titled Soldier Secretary — coming out this week. The Hill published an advanced look which included the reveal of just how involved the former first lady was in Trump’s administration.

According to the book, Melania Trump joined administration and military leaders in the Situation Room to watch the 2019 raid in Syria that led to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Miller acknowledged that Melania Trump being in the room was not the norm. She joined others like Mike Pence.

“Her presence was unexpected, to say the least. I wondered how it would play in the press if word got out that the first lady had popped in to watch a major military operation,” Miller wrote, according to The Hill.

While plenty of officials had their fair share to say, Melania Trump’s contribution was recommending focusing on Conan, a special operations dog involved in the raid who sustained injuries.

“You should talk about the dog. Everyone loves dogs,” Melania told her husband.

The then-president took her advice as the administration did promote Conan, who became a fixture in the media for a short time. Trump also honored the dog a month later at the White House. The former president called the dog an “American hero” and touted that Conan recovered quickly and went on multiple other raids.

Two U.S. soldiers were lightly injured in the raid.