Trump brags his strike on Soleimani killed '2 for the price of 1' while giving a behind-the-scenes account of the assassination to GOP donors at his Florida resort

donald trump mar-a-lago
donald trump mar-a-lago

Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

  • President Donald Trump recounted the minutes leading up to the deadly US strike on top Iranian leader Qassem Soleimani during remarks to GOP donors at his Florida resort on Friday night, according to CNN.

  • The president recalled how US military officials counted down the seconds leading up to the strike, which also killed a top Iraqi militant leader and several others, outside the Baghdad International airport.

  • Trump remarked that he assassinated "two for the price of one" and noted that the strike, which dramatically escalated tensions between the US and Iran, "shook up the world."

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President Donald Trump recounted the minutes leading up to the deadly US strike on top Iranian leader Qassem Soleimani during remarks to Republican donors at his Florida resort on Friday night, according to an audio recording obtained by CNN.

Trump told the crowd at a GOP fundraising event at Mar-a-Lago that Soleimani, Iran's top military general and the second-most powerful leader in the country, was "saying bad things about our country" before the strike.

"How much of this shit do we have to listen to?" Trump said, according to CNN. "How much are we going to listen to?"

The president recalled how US military officials counted down the seconds leading up to the strike, which also killed a top Iraqi militant leader and several others, outside the Baghdad International airport.

"They're together sir," Trump said he was told of the two leaders. "Sir, they have two minutes and 11 seconds. No emotion. '2 minutes and 11 seconds to live, sir. They're in the car, they're in an armored vehicle. Sir, they have approximately one minute to live, sir. 30 seconds. 10, 9, 8 ...' "

He went on, "Then all of a sudden, boom. 'They're gone, sir. Cutting off.' "

Trump remarked that he assassinated "two for the price of one" and noted that the strike, which dramatically escalated tensions between the US and Iran, "shook up the world." And the president reportedly called Soleimani a "noted terrorist" who "was down on our list" of enemies.

The administration hasn't released any evidence to support the claim that Iran was planning such an attack on the embassy, or any other imminent attack. And Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he hadn't seen any intelligence backing up Trump's claim that Soleimani had been planning attacks on four US embassies.

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