Former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld has scoffed at praise for President Barack Obama for ordering the killing of Osama bin Laden, saying he would have recommended the operation in a minute.

The blunt-talking and controversial former Pentagon chief, best known for the Iraq invasion, was asked in an interview whether he agreed with remarks by his successor, Robert Gates, that Obama made a “gutsy” call.

“I don’t,” Rumsfeld, a Republican, said late Wednesday on “The Charlie Rose Show” on public television.