At a press conference today Trump explained which attack Soleimani was planning that led to him ordering the drone strike that killed him.
Trump on why he ordered a drone attack that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani:
"They were looking to blow up our embassy" pic.twitter.com/gmjL2J7I4C
— Luis Velarde (@luivelarde) January 9, 2020
Here’s what Trump said in the video:
We caught a total monster and we took him out, and that should have happened a long time ago. We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy. We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious. Somebody died, one of our military people died, people were badly wounded just a week before, and we did it. We had a shot at him and I took it. And that shot was pinpoint accurate and that was the end of a monster.
Can you imagine if Trump hadn’t taken Soleimani out and he succeeded in blowing up our embassy, or even part of it? Taking out Soleimani was clearly an act of de-escalation because if he’d succeeded in any way, we would likely be at war with Iran right now or at least a lot closer to it.