Palm Beach, Florida - US President Donald
Trump gave a minute-to-minute account of the US drone strikes
that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in
remarks to a Republican fundraising dinner on Friday night,
according to audio obtained by CNN.
With his typical dramatic flourish, Trump recounted the
scene as he monitored the strikes from the White House Situation
Room when Soleimani was killed.
The president spoke in a ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago club in
Palm Beach, Florida, at a Republican event that raised $10
million for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign and for the
Republican National Committee.
Reporters were not allowed in for the event. CNN said it
obtained an audio recording of Trump's remarks. The White House
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The January 3 killing of Soleimani at Baghdad airport prompted
Iran to retaliate with missile strikes against US forces in
Iraq days later and almost triggered a broad war between the two
countries.
"They're together sir," Trump said military officials told
him. "Sir, they have two minutes and 11 seconds. No emotion.
'Two 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. Thirty seconds. Ten, 9, 8 ...' "
"Then all of a sudden, boom," he said. "'They're gone, sir.
Cutting off.'"
"I said, where is this guy?" Trump continued. "That was the
last I heard from him."
It was the most detailed account that Trump has given of the
drone strike, which has drawn criticism from some U.S. lawmakers
because neither the president nor his advisers have provided
public information to back up their statements that Soleimani
presented an "imminent" threat to Americans in the region.
CNN said that in the audio, Trump did not repeat that
Soleimani was an imminent threat. Trump said Soleimani was
"saying bad things about our country" before the strike, which
led to his decision to authorize his killing.
"How much of this sh*t do we have to listen to?" Trump asked
in the audio. "How much are we going to listen to?"