Donald Trump has falsely claimed he predicted the threat posed by Osama bin Laden before anyone else.

In a press conference announcing the death of Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Mr Trump went on a bizarre tangent about his self-proclaimed foresight, claiming nobody listened to him when he said Bin Laden was dangerous before the 9/11 attacks.

The president claimed he made the prediction in his book The America We Deserve, which was published in 2000, and complained that he does not get any credit for it.

“I wrote a book, a very successful book, and in that book, about a year before the World Trade Centre was blown up, I said ‘There is somebody named Osama bin Laden. You better kill him or take him out… He’s big trouble,’" Mr Trump said on Sunday.

“Nobody had ever heard of Osama bin Laden until the World Trade Centre,” he added, incorrectly.

Timeline of the Isis caliphate Show all 19 1 /19 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Timeline of the Isis caliphate ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex Timeline of the Isis caliphate On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines Timeline of the Isis caliphate The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the city’s entrance and exit points AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent Timeline of the Isis caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent

However, Mr Trump’s claim is inaccurate on several fronts.

Although Bin Laden was mentioned in The America We Deserve, his appearance is fleeting at best and does not come in the form of a prediction about his threat.

The former al-Qaeda leader is referred to once in the book, in a passage about various security threats facing the US.

In a paragraph where Mr Trump and his co-author Dave Shiflett list potential dangers, he said: “One day we’re told that a shadowy figure with no fixed address named Osama bin Laden is public enemy number one, and US jetfighters lay waste to his camp in Afghanistan. He escapes back under some rock, and a few news cycles later it’s on to a new enemy and new crisis.”

Mr Trump did predict a major terror attack would soon occur in the US and warned of an atrocity that would “make the [1993] bombing of the Trade Centre look like kids playing with firecrackers.”

He did not, however, mention Bin Laden or al-Qaeda as potential perpetrators of such an attack.

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Even if the president's book had predicted Bin Laden was a significant threat, he would not have been the first person to make that observation.

US intelligence agencies were well aware of Bin Laden by 2000, as were many members of the general public following the 1998 United States embassy bombings which brought al-Qaeda to international attention.

In December 1998, then president Bill Clinton was informed by intelligence officials that al-Qaeda was making plans for attacks in the US, including training personnel to hijack an aircraft.