How Trump's decision to strike a top Iranian commander unfolded at Mar-a-Lago
Meetings began Sunday afternoon among Trump's top national security and military advisers at Mar-a-Lago.
As he kept up appearances around the resort, Trump was hawkish on advancing the US response to tensions with Iran, even reportedly bragging to some resort guests.
On New Year's Eve, Trump lauded a mission by Marines who rushed to the American Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday to protect diplomats during a violent protest that the administration said was ordered by Iran.
"We have some of our greatest warriors there," Trump told reporters of the mission. "They got in very quickly."
He added that he would caution Iran away from starting a war with the US, saying he didn't think "would be a good idea for Iran," as "it wouldn't last very long."
The violent siege at the embassy was the second incident in days that the administration had connected to Soleimani after a December 27 rocket attack that killed an America military contractor near Kirkuk, Iraq.
As news of the successful strike broke Thursday night, Trump appeared at ease.
CNN reported that Trump was seen exiting a secure briefing room at Mar-a-Lago around 6 p.m. with agents and aides. Throughout the evening, aides delivered updates on the strikes as Trump reportedly remained a calm and cool dinner guest.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy even posted pictures of Trump eating his dinner while news of the strike broke and the Pentagon confirmed responsibility.
Howie Carr, a conservative author, wrote in a column for the Boston Herald that Trump seemed "cool, calm and collected," chatting with McCarthy and Carr about Democratic contenders in the 2020 Election like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
One possible clue that a big announcement was coming came via the president's Twitter account, which posted a photo of an American flag at 9:32 p.m.
After the strike, Democratic lawmakers faced off with the triumphant administration
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among the top lawmakers to express concern over retaliation for the attack, saying in a statement released Friday morning that the strike could trigger a "further dangerous escalation of violence."
Reports noted that Pelosi was one in the "Gang of Eight," a group of congressional leaders who receive high-level intelligence and military briefings from the administration, who was not briefed on the mission.
The United Nations also criticized the attack and raised questions if the move was even legal.
Pelosi's comments stood in sharp contrast to Trump's assertion at a Friday press conference that the US "took action last night to stop a war."
"We did not take action to start a war," he said.
Former national security adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Vice President were among the officials to echo Trump's hopeful comments, with Pence even falsely connecting Iran to the September 11 terrorist attacks as a long-awaited justification for Soleimani's death.
....of PROTESTERS killed in Iran itself. While Iran will never be able to properly admit it, Soleimani was both hated and feared within the country. They are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believe. He should have been taken out many years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020Despite the backlash and concern sparked by the killing, the administration's next planned steps in the conflict remained unclear.
Lawmakers and officials bat down concerns over security threats to the US in the wake of the attack after Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that a "harsh retaliation is waiting" for Americans.
Some of the country's biggest cities announced a ramped-up security presence at top tourist sites, though the Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement that "there are currently no specific, credible threats against our homeland."
Protests were slated for cities across the US to push back on concerns of a brewing war, which would demand thousands more US troops deployed to the Middle East, despite the White House's insistence that Trump had intended to de-escalate tensions.
"To talk about de-escalation now is absurd, in a way, because Iran will react," Rob Malley, a senior Mideast official for former President Barack Obama, told the Daily Beast. "The de-escalation decision should have been taken before the assassination of Qassem Soleimani."
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