President Donald Trump continued defending his decision to kill Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, noting that it was a retaliatory strike.
“You look over his past — he’s been called a monster. And he was a monster. And he’s no longer a monster. He’s dead,” Trump said. “And that’s a good thing for a lot of countries.”
The president spoke to reporters during a visit with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday afternoon at the White House.
Trump said that Soleimani was behind the attacks on the American embassy in Baghdad as well as rocket attacks on American military bases that killed an American contractor. The president said that a second American was also killed as a result of the earlier attacks.
“Don’t forget, in our case, it was retaliation, because they were there first,” Trump said, referring to the earlier attacks in Iran against Americans.
The president noted that Soleimani was traveling and meeting with insurgent militants in Baghdad prior to the airstrike launched by the United States.
“They weren’t there to discuss a vacation. They weren’t there to go to a nice resort in Baghdad,” Trump said. “They were there to discuss bad business.”
The president said that the attack on Soleimani saved American lives.
“We saved a lot of lives by terminating his life,” he said.
Trump again warned Iran not to retaliate further or the United States would attack again.
After reporters asked if the president continued to support the idea of targeting Iranian cultural sites, Trump said he supported the laws of engagement but indicated he was puzzled why the United States should show restraint with terrorists.
“They kill our people, they blow up our people and then we have to be very gentle with their cultural institutions,” he said. “But I’m OK with it. It’s OK with me.”
Trump said he heard from the leaders of several countries who supported the airstrike, but said Democrats were opposing it for political reasons.
“I don’t hear too many people other than politicians who are trying to win the presidency, those are the ones that are complaining, but I don’t hear anybody else complaining,” he said.
The president added that the United States was “totally prepared” to respond to any further attacks from Iran.
“I will say this, if Iran does anything that they shouldn’t be doing, they’re going to be suffering the consequences and very strongly,” he said.
Trump said that although he wanted to get American troops out of Iraq, it would not be the best time to do so in the current situation.
“At some point, we will want to leave,” he said.
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