President Trump said the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani benefited not just the United States but also other countries.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump called the Quds Force commander a “monster” who had already killed Americans and was planning to kill more. The president defended his choice to take lethal action and kill Soleimani in a drone strike.
“If you look at what’s going on, ours was an attack based on what they did. We weren’t the first one out. He killed an American,” Trump said, referring to the U.S. contractor who was killed during a rocket attack by an Iranian-aligned militia group targeting K1 military base in Iraq.
“And that was one of his smaller endeavors,” Trump continued. “You look over his past, his past — he’s been called a monster. And he was a monster. And he’s no longer a monster, he’s dead.”
Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of more than 600 U.S. troops during the Iraq War as the commander of the Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for special operations in other countries.
Trump said that Soleimani’s death was “a good thing for a lot of countries.” He also said the general was “planning a very big attack and a very bad attack for us and other people.”
“I don’t think anybody can complain about it. I don’t hear too many people, other than politicians who are trying to win the presidency, those are the ones that are complaining,” Trump said, pointing out the Democratic contenders who have pushed back on his use of force.
Soleimani, 62, was killed in a U.S. drone strike near a Baghdad airport on Friday, alongside Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, who led the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces.
