Kyle Mazza/AP
On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump began a post on his social media platform Truth Social by writing, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” Trump continued in the post, “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
The president’s post and other recent threats come in the lead up to an 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline that he has imposed on Iran to reach a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz. The threats have led to concerns from figures including former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson and Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived White House communications director turned Trump critic, 0f a potential nuclear strike against Iran if the president is unable to open the strait through conventional weaponry and diplomacy.
I asked the White House Tuesday morning if the president is mulling the use of nuclear weapons and if his apocalyptic Truth Social post is intended to convey such a threat. Six minutes later, at 11:19 a.m. eastern time, the White House press office declined to rule out the use of nuclear weapons. Instead, an unnamed official wrote, “We refer you to the President’s TRUTH on this inquiry.”
In a follow-up email, I wrote that the Truth Social post in question is ambiguous and that I would write in this article that “the White House press office declined to comment on whether the president is considering a nuclear attack on Iran,” and that it instead directed me to a post that threatens the imminent death of an entire civilization.
I also asked if the White House would like to provide additional comments or a statement. Two minutes later, at 11:45 a.m., the White House shared a statement attributable to press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The Iranian regime has until 8PM Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States,” Leavitt said. “Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do.”
The responses from the White House press office were different from an earlier tweet from its rapid response team that criticized a Democratic account for saying that Vice President JD Vance had implied on Tuesday that Trump was considering using nuclear weapons. “Literally nothing [Vance] said here ‘implies’ this, you absolute buffoons,” the rapid response team wrote.
The threat by Trump on Tuesday is yet another escalation from the president in the lead up to his imminent deadline for opening the Strait of Hormuz. On Easter Sunday, Trump wrote that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one” before adding “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” The language of the post suggested that Trump is considering using conventional weapons to target civilian infrastructure, which is itself a war crime. Trump said on Monday about Iran, “The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.”
Some of Trump’s biggest backers, including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, are now warning that the president is no longer fit to serve and should be removed from office by his cabinet. “25TH AMENDMENT!!!,” former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote in response to Trump’s most recent threat. “We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness.”
