Trump shares Photoshopped picture of himself giving military dog a medal

Conservative news site created image from photo of US president awarding medal of honour to retired Army medic

Altered image shows the US president putting a paw-print medal around the neck of the Belgian Malinois (@realDailyWire/Associated Press)

Donald Trump has tweeted an altered photo of him presenting a medal of honour to the military dog involved in the raid that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis.

The picture shows the US president putting a paw-print medal around the neck of the Belgian Malinois, named in media reports as 'Conan'.

The image was created by the conservative news site The Daily Wire from an Associated Press picture of Mr Trump awarding the medal to James McCloughan, a retired Army medic who served during the Vietnam War.

When Mr Trump posted the image on Twitter on Wednesday, he wrote: “AMERICAN HERO.”

Later, he tweeted: ”Thank you Daily Wire. Very cute recreation, but the ‘live’ version of Conan will be leaving the Middle East for the White House sometime next week!”

Conan was hurt after being exposed to live electrical cables but has returned to active duty, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

General Frank McKenzie, who leads US Central Command, told reporters the dog was injured when it came in contact with the cables as it pursued Baghdadi in a tunnel underneath a compound in northwestern Syria.

Gen McKenzie said the dog has worked with special operations forces for four years and taken part in about 50 missions.

He said such working dogs are “critical members of our forces.”

The image Mr Trump shared was created from a photo taken at a 2017 East Room ceremony to present Mr McCloughan with the medal of honour for saving the lives of 10 men during the Vietnam War.

Mr McCloughan, 74, laughed when he was shown the altered photo by the New York Times, and said military dogs “are very courageous”.