The newest tweet about military funding comes days after the US carried out a targeted airstrike, killing Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani."We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World!" he continued. "If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way... and without hesitation!"In a series of tweets a few hours prior, the president said that his message should "serve as a warning," adding: "The USA wants no more threats!"A series of Iranian threats of retaliation following the killing of Soleimani came throughout the weekend, leading to Trump's response via Twitter."Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American and badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters," Trump tweeted. "He was already attacking our Embassy and preparing for additional hits in other locations.""Iran has been nothing but problems for many years," the president continued. "Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level and important to Iran and the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD."Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet that "Iranian-owned Kata’ib Hizballah thugs" are telling Iraqi security forces to abandon their duty to protect the US Embassy in Baghdad, as well as other locations, "where Americans work side by side with good Iraqi people.""The Iranian regime telling Iraq’s government what to do puts Iraqi patriots' lives at risk," Pompeo added. "The Iraqi people want out from under the Iranian yoke; indeed, they recently burned an Iranian consulate to the ground."The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World! If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way...and without hesitation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020
On Saturday, the White House sent to Congress formal notification of Friday's US drone strike that killed Soleimani. The classified notification was sent under a 1973 US law called the War Powers Act, which requires the administration to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action or imminent actions.
Reuters contributed to this report.
"This document prompts serious and urgent questions about the timing, manner and justification of the administration's decision to engage in hostilities against Iran," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
She said the "highly unusual" decision to classify the entire document compounded her concerns and "suggests that the Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security."
A senior Democratic aide described the notification as "brief and insufficient."