Press Sec. Grisham: US Ready If Iran Retaliates Over Soleimani

The United States is ready should Iran choose to retaliate for the airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said Tuesday. 

"We are definitely ready for it," Grisham told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "Our military is, of course, on high alert, and we will just see what happens. We hope it doesn't happen. The president has said he does not seek any kind of escalation or war."

Grisham would not specify what threat was posed through Soleimani, but called the decision to kill him "intel-based," and said it saved American lives. 

"We saved members of the military, we saved diplomats, and a lot of families from having to welcome their loved ones home in a coffin," Grisham said. 

Members of Congress will be briefed on Trump's action on Wednesday, and Grisham said she imagines some details will leak. Meanwhile, Trump is "being briefed all the time" but he is also continuing with his job as president, including meeting with the prime minister of Greece on Tuesday. 

"He's on top of everything," she said. "The country should feel good that this president is not going to let anything happen to anybody. 

Grisham also said she doesn't agree with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who says Soleimani's death marks the "death of diplomacy."

"The alternative was to, what, not save these people?" said Grisham. "Then what would people be saying to us? What would Congress be saying? What would Nancy Pelosi be saying? That we sat by and let something that happened to our American troops, our American diplomats?" 

She also dismissed claims being made that Trump acted as a distraction from impeachment. 

"(Democrats) should be celebrating that this president took such decisive action to save Americans, many of whom they represent," she said. "There is nothing this president can do that will make them happy. It's really unfortunate it's turning political."

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