Donald Trump’s killing of one of Iran’s top military commanders means the elimination of a dangerous U.S. enemy – but it also represents a risky escalation in a volatile feud that could backfire on American personnel and allies in the Middle East and beyond.

But Trump doesn’t seem to be worried, as he has decided to remain at his luxury resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and not return to Washington DC to deal with the fallout.

The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that Qassem Soleimani, who leads Iran’s elite Quds force, was killed in what it termed a “defensive action.”

Iraqi and other media said Soleimani died in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport. Some media accounts described the airstrike as coming from a U.S. drone, but the Pentagon did not specify.

“At the direction of the president, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the Pentagon said.

“General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region,” it added, blaming him for recent attacks on U.S. troops and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. “This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans.”

Even the possibility that the U.S. had directly targeted Soleimani – especially on Iraqi soil – sent shockwaves around the globe, spiking oil prices and leading to instant assessments of the potential fallout. U.S. officials have long depicted Soleimani as a paramilitary and terrorist mastermind, deemed responsible for attacks on American troops in Iraq and against U.S. interests all over the world.

“It is hard to overstate the significance,” said retired Gen. David Petraeus, who oversaw the “surge” of American troops in Iraq in the violent years after the 2003 U.S. invasion. “But there will be responses in Iraq and likely Syria and the region.”

Some current and former U.S. officials, as well as veteran Iran observers, said the killing was an escalatory move far beyond what they had ever expected.

“I can’t believe it,” one U.S. official said. “The immediate concern for me is: What’s the next step from Iran? Is this the beginning of a regional conflagration?”

A former U.S. official who dealt with the Middle East said the strike was especially notable because it targeted the leader of a state apparatus, as opposed to a non-state actor.

“We need to be prepared that we’re now at war,” he said.

But Trump doesn’t seem to be worried at all, and isn’t changing his vacation plans to deal with any potential fallout.

Here is Trump’s schedule for Friday:

Here's Trump's public schedule for tomorrow. (Public schedules don't include all of a president's activities.) pic.twitter.com/qLwZe9TLYM

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 3, 2020

People on Twitter quickly called Trump out:

OMG, he’s escalating a war in the Mideast and the only thing on his calendar is a meeting with the evangelicals. This is madness. Will this cause his supporters to wake up or will they rally round him? Best if they show their support by signing up for military duty.

— jackie macleod (@jackie_macleoj) January 3, 2020

WW3 is about to start and Trump is talking to the Evangelicals is too on the nose

— Comfortably Numb (@YGalanter) January 3, 2020

Is he ever going to come to the White House, or is he just going to permanently move to Mar-a-Lago?

— Invisible Stealth Resister (@JTMontgomery8) January 3, 2020

so were paying for him to have another rally while were are at a very high tension place right now. wonderful.

— hockeyman (@hockeym35658138) January 3, 2020

He just escalated the harm,that American troops will now have to deal with,and he’s just going to meet his tongue speaking base like nothing has happened.

— Rocky Lum (@RockyLum) January 3, 2020

He's still in fucking Florida?!?!?! He just ordered a strike on a guy that is going to almost certainly cause a war.

— Gil (@gilded_city) January 3, 2020

Start war. Go golf. https://t.co/wB39y36Gbj

— Natalie Dempsey (@NatalieDempse16) January 3, 2020