In the fall of 2015, then-candidate Donald Trump didnt seem to know who Qassem Soleimani was, confusing Irans elite military Quds Force for the Kurds, an ethnic group.

But four years later, the president killed Irans terror chief in Iraq.

Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, but his reign of terror is over, Trump said from Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Friday. What the United States did yesterday should have been done long ago.

Trumps shifting focus to Soleimani, who the U.S. government holds responsible for killing hundreds of U.S. soldiers, is interesting although not surprising from the real estate tycoon turned commander-in-chief who made opposition to the Obama administrations catastrophic Iran nuclear deal which eased sanctions and gave it a much-needed influx of cash a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. After winning, Trump withdrew from the deal and made a maximum pressure campaign against the regime a priority, ratcheting up sanctions and labeling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its specialized Quds Force a foreign terrorist organization.

Trump appeared on Hugh Hewitts radio show in early September 2015, where the conservative host conducted his typical trivia-style interview, probing the GOP front-runner's foreign policy knowledge.

Are you familiar with Gen. Soleimani? Hewitt asked.

Trump hesitantly replied, Yes I go ahead, give me a little go ahead. Tell me.

He runs the Quds Forces, Hewitt explained.

The host began to ask the candidate about Soleimani, but Trump interjected, confusing the Quds Force with the Kurds.

And I think the Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated by us, Trump said.

No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Forces, Hewitt replied. The bad guys.

I thought you said Kurds, Trump said.

Hewitt pressed again, asking Trump whether he believed Soleimanis behavior would change thanks to the Iran nuclear deal.

I think that Iran right now is in the drivers seat to do whatever they want to do, Trump said.

Hewitt analogized, Soleimani is to terrorism sort of what Trump is to real estate, and he said, Many people would say hes the most dangerous man in the world, and he runs the Quds Forces, which is their Navy SEALs.

At this, Trump correctly surmised that Soleimani was the Iranian official hed read about in the news who had traveled to Moscow to meet with Russias leaders.

Not good, Trump said.

The future president admonished Hewitt for his questioning.

When youre asking me about whos running this, this, this, thats not I will be so good at the military your head spin, Trump said, labeling these gotcha questions.

The segment became a storyline in the GOP primary, dominating cable news for a day or two as Trumps rivals jumped on the flub.

But after his 2016 victory, Trump focused on the global terrorism carried out by Irans revolutionary guard.

The Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor of terror, it exports dangerous missiles, fuels conflicts across the Middle East, and supports terrorist proxies and militias, Trump said in a May 2018 announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran deal. Over the years, Iran and its proxies have bombed American embassies and military installations, murdered hundreds of American servicemembers, and kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured American citizens Since the agreement, Irans bloody ambitions have grown only more brazen.

Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced last spring that the State Department was designating the revolutionary guard a foreign terrorist organization, classifying an element of a foreign government as a terrorist group for the first time.

"The IRGC is the Iranian governments primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign," Trump said.

With this designation, we are sending a clear signal to the Iranian regime including Qasem Soleimani and his band of thugs that we are standing up to the regimes outlaw behavior," said Pompeo. The blood of the 603 American soldiers ... is on his hands and the hands of the IRGC more broadly."

The State Department revealed Iran is responsible for the deaths of at least 603 American service members in Iraq, many resulting from improvised explosive devices and other attacks aided by the revolutionary guard and Soleimanis group.

The violent storming of the grounds of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad this week followed the Iraqi governments condemnation of U.S. airstrikes targeting Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia in the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces guided by Soleimani and his adviser Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, also killed yesterday. The U.S. blamed Kataib Hezbollah for attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, including the death of a U.S. contractor. Soleimanis and Muhandiss men showed up at the embassy in droves on Tuesday, along with members of other Iranian-aligned groups.

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From confusing 'Quds' and 'Kurds' to killing Soleimani: Trump's evolution on Iran's terror chief in Iraq - Washington Examiner