A week after the U.S. assassinated Qasem Soleimani but the administration refusing to identify the supposed “imminent threat” that led to his authorization to kill the Iranian general, President Donald Trump Thursday appeared to leak that Soleimani and Iran were “looking to blow up our embassy” in Iran.
“We caught a total monster,” Trump told reporters, suggesting his predecessor should have assassinated Soleimani. “We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy. We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious.”
But Trump’s claim was met with some skepticism.
Here’s a Washington Post senior reporter noting that on Wednesday GOP Sen. Mike Lee was furious with the “worst” military briefing on the assassination he says he has ever received. Other lawmakers also said they learned nothing not already in the press.
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen on MSNBC also was skeptical, saying Trump’s claim shows the administration is just “making this up as they go.”
Watch:
Trump then appeared to obfuscate: