Trump tweeted an erroneous ‘fact’ on Tuesday, which appeared to mischaracterize a 2016 intelligence report tracking former Guantánamo Bay inmates

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Donald Trump said on Tuesday that 122 “vicious prisoners” freed from Guantánamo Bay by Barack Obama had “returned to the battlefield”. In fact, according to an intelligence report, the correct figure is nine.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!

The president appeared to be mischaracterizing a 2016 intelligence report tracking former inmates of the controversial prison who were confirmed to have “re-engaged in terrorism”.

The report, issued by the office of the director of national intelligence on 14 September 2016, said 113 former inmates released under President George W Bush had been confirmed to have re-engaged.

The report did contain the number 122. That number was the sum total of former Guantánamo inmates confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorism as of 15 July 2016.

But only nine of those suspects had been released since 22 January 2009, two days after Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Former Guantánamo Bay inmate was killed in US airstrike in Yemen Read more

The report said 21.2% of former inmates released by Bush had been confirmed to have re-engaged, while 5.6% of inmates released by Obama had done so.

Trump has long used Twitter to spread falsehoods, on topics from voter fraud to crowd sizes to murder rates to Obama’s birthplace. The pattern of behavior has not changed since he became president.

Since it opened in 2002, the Guantánamo prison has held 780 people, almost all without trial. Bush released more than 500 and Obama more than 200. There are currently 41 men detained at the prison.

On Monday, the US government confirmed reports that Yasir al-Silmi, a former Guantánamo Bay inmate released in 2009, had been killed in a US airstrike in Yemen.