Trump Says Israel Pulled Out of Soleimani Strike at the Last Minute

President Donald Trump said at a Washington conference that Israel dropped out at the last moment from the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. Trump said Israel had been expected to take part with the United States in the operation against Soleimani.

According to Trump, the decision came the night before the strike. "Soleimani was a crazy genius. He was about to take out five of our military facilities. I found out, and to be fair, Israel was supposed to do it with us. And the night before it was supposed to happen, we heard from Israel that they were not going to do it, that they did not want to do it. We knew everything, but we lost our partner. I do not blame them too much because it is a hard thing," he said.

Trump did not elaborate on why Israel backed out or whether its role would have been operational or logistical. He framed the event as a missed partnership between the two allies in an operation carried out in 2020 against one of Iran's most senior military figures.