1/ Defense Secretary Mark Esper “didn’t see� intelligence backing up Trump’s claim that Iran was planning to strike four U.S. embassies. Trump previously told Fox News that Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was “probably� going to attack “four embassies,� including the “embassy in Baghdad.� While Esper agreed with Trump that additional attacks against U.S. embassies were likely, he said Trump’s comments were not based on any specific evidence. Esper also confirmed that he sent “thousands of American paratroopers to the Middle East to reinforce our embassy in Baghdad and other sites� based on Trump’s evidence-free assertion. (Reuters / NBC News / New York Times / CNN / CNBC)

📌 Day 1086: Trump claimed Iran had targeted four American embassies before he ordered the killing of Soleimani. Yesterday, Trump claimed that Iran was “looking to blow up� the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, but did not mention the three other embassies under “imminent� threat. (Bloomberg / Washington Post)

U.S. Embassy security officials at the State Department were not made aware of any imminent threats to four U.S. embassies, contradicting Trump’s claim that assassinating Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani was an act of self-defense. The State Department sent a global warning before the strike occurred, but no warnings were issued to any individual U.S. embassy and the global warning did not mention any imminent attack. One Senior State Department official said he was “blindsided� when the Trump administration attempted to justify the killing by saying Soleimani was behind an imminent threat to blow us U.S. embassies. (CNN)

2/ Senior administration officials declined to confirm Trump’s assertion that Iran was “looking to blow up� four U.S. embassies. Officials instead suggested that Trump’s “interpretation� of the threat was consistent with overall intelligence that justified the killing of Soleimani. Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that “it doesn’t really matter� whether Soleimani posed an “imminent� threat to the United States. (Washington Post)

3/ Trump authorized the assassination of Soleimani seven months ago. Trum...