Trump stumbling in public response to Soleimani’s assassination

US President Donald Trump’s public response to the American assassination of Iranian Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani has been chaotic and embarrassing, raising questions over the administration’s preparation to deal with the crisis, according to US media reports.

Trump’s mistake-prone response comes despite his effort to demonstrate strong and decisive leadership in the killing of Soleimani, The Washington Post said in an editorial Tuesday.

Trump and top US officials have refused to provide details of what prompted the decision to attack Soleimani and have offered conflicting accounts over whether the Iranian commander was coordinating imminent attacks on US facilities in the Middle East, the Post said.

The lack of clear information continued late Tuesday in Washington even after Iran retaliated for Soleimani’s death with missile attacks on US military bases in Iraq, the report said.

The White House first announced Tuesday night that Trump or other senior administration officials would make no public remarks in response to the retaliation. Hours later, Trump tweeted that he would address the nation Wednesday morning.

The Trump administration was also embarrassed after the US Defense Department sent a letter to Iraqi officials this week stating the US military would comply with the prime minister’s demand to pull US troops out of the country, only to call it a draft copy released by mistake.

The US military carried out an airstrike on the direction of Trump at Baghdad’s international airport early on Friday, assassinating Soleimani and the second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, as well as eight other companions.

Early on Wednesday, Iran responded to the assassination of Soleimani, the Middle East's most prominent anti-terror commander, striking the American airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar province in western Iraq and another in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Trump caused an international condemnation after threatening to attack Iranian cultural sites if Tehran retaliates for the top general's assassination. He had to retreat Tuesday following statements from US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other officials rejecting such actions as illegal.

Senior US officials also said Trump had surprised his own aides by publicly threatening to impose sanctions against Iraq if the American troops there are forced out of the country.

The flurry of events has led to a sense of confusion in the White House and a lack of clarity following the US assassination. Two administration officials conceded that some of Trump’s messages over the weekend were unhelpful.

Even Washington’s allies, including Israel and several European nations, expressed concerns over the military strike, with some objecting outright and complaining they were not consulted.

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