Trump: Soleimani 'should have been taken out many years ago'

Early on Friday, Donald Trump berated the Iranian general's character, accusing him of being responsible for the death of millions of people.

"General Qassem Soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

"He was directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people, including the recent large number 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!"

In November 2018, Trump and Soleimani had an indirect interaction - in the virtual world. Trump posted a photo on Twitter proclaiming, "Sanctions are coming". With an icy background and the same font used by the HBO series, Game of Thrones, the post was a play on the show's famous adage, "Winter is coming".

Soleimani responded with his own Game of Thronesque Instagram post - a poster of himself against a dark background saying, "I will stand against you".

Qasem Soleimani, the Commander of the Quds Force, Iran’s external security agency, has posted this image on his Instagram in response to Trump’s tweet. pic.twitter.com/l1zdRIBK9f
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 3, 2018

Trump's "sanctions are coming" post was announcing the reimposing of sanctions on Iran after The US president had left the Iran nuclear deal in May of that year.

It marked the start of his administration's so-called maximum pressure campaign that would intensify tensions in the region and in turn lead to Soleimani's death.