President Donald Trump threatened genocide against the entire population of Iran this morning, posting on social media that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” He concluded his message with “God Bless the Great People of Iran.”
The president’s warnings represent threats of egregious war crimes, but he appears not to care. “I’m not worried about it,” Trump said when asked about the possibility of violating international law at a Monday press conference. “The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
When my colleague Noah Lanard asked White House officials about the potential of using nuclear weapons on Iran and whether Trump’s morning threat was meant to indicate such, they didn’t deny it—twice.
What they told Noah:
“The Iranian regime has until 8PM Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States. Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do.”
This was the second statement, attributed to press secretary Karoline Leavitt, after the White House press office initially referred Noah to the same Truth Social post he questioned them about.
It’s horrifying rhetoric with mere hours before the Trump administration’s deadline for Iran to reopen its oil passageway.
—Alex Nguyen
