Intelligence officials briefed Trump many times about senior terrorist figures the CIA wanted to track down and kill, specifically mentioning al-Zawahiri, NBC News reported.

But two people familiar with the briefings told NBC News that Trump chose not to pursue al-Zawahiri because he didn’t recognize his name, and instead suggested targeting bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden.

“He would say, ‘I’ve never heard of any of these people. What about Hamza bin Laden?’” one unnamed former official told NBC News.

A Pentagon official also told the news outlet: “That was the only name he knew.”

The Department of Defense and a spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.

Even though Bin Laden’s son was widely seen as an emerging figure in the terrorist group, he was not believed to be planning any attacks at the time, NBC News reported.

Trump had the chance to kill al-Qaeda’s leader but didn’t because he didn’t recognize the name, report says (BI)