'They have two minutes and 11 seconds to live' : Trump gives dramatic account of Soleimani's death

Published Jan 18, 2020

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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?"

Reuters

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