High-dollar donors were gathered for\u00a0a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where Trump offered a play-by-play of sorts surrounding the decision-making behind the admittedly bold and risky move to strike the elite Iranian military leader via drone as he passed through Baghdad’s international airport.\u00a0Soleimani was \u201csaying bad things about our country\u201d prior to the US taking action, Trump\u00a0described of his decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n “How much of this shit do we have to listen to?”<\/strong>\u00a0Trump was quoted as saying in audio of the event\u00a0obtained by CNN<\/a>.\u00a0“How much are we going to listen to?”<\/strong>\u00a0The president continued, suggesting that Soleimani’s anti-American invectives\u00a0were ultimately a convincing enough reason to sway Trump toward issuing the final order.<\/p>\n Trump further admitted the killing\u00a0“shook up the world” given that from the perspective of Iran and its allies\u00a0“He was supposed to be invincible”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n However, like with prior official statements surrounding the controversial military operation, which subsequently triggered a move in Iraqi parliament to boot American forces from the country, no specific evidence was offered that Soleimani was an “imminent” threat to US national security in the region. Previously\u00a0contradictory statements<\/a>\u00a0have come out of the administration saying US embassies in the region were under threat of bombing.<\/p>\n Describing that the drone strike took out\u00a0“two for the price of one”<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/em>in reference to slain Iraqi Shia paramilitary commander\u00a0Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, who had been at the airport to greet Soleimani, Trump gave a more detailed accounting than ever before of proceedings in the ‘situation room’ (which had been set up at\u00a0Mar-a-Lago) that night.<\/p>\n According to CNN’s summary of the new details\u00a0recounted in the speech<\/a>:<\/p>\n He went on to recount listening to military officials as they watched the strike from “cameras that are miles in the sky.”<\/p>\n “They’re together sir,” Trump recalled the military officials saying. “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 …’ “<\/strong><\/p>\n “Then all of a sudden, boom,”<\/strong>\u00a0he went on. “‘They’re gone, sir. Cutting off.’ “<\/strong><\/p>\n “I said, where is this guy?” Trump continued.\u00a0“That was the last I heard from him.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/trumpsolmispeech.png?itok=01zDskaS)
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