A day after dropping the f-bomb on Truth Social in an Easter Sunday post where he threatened to attack massive swaths of Iran’s infrastructure if the “Fuckin’ Strait” is not opened, President Trump doubled down on those threats from the White House podium on Monday, again threatening to bomb the country back to “the stone ages.”
“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business — burning, exploding, and never to be used again,” he said during a rambling press conference Monday, referencing his previous (supposed) ultimatum to Iranian regime leaders to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Do I want to destroy their infrastructure? No,” the president continued. “It will take them 100 years to rebuild. Right now, if we left today, it would take them 20 years to rebuild their country, and it would never be as good as it was. And the only way they’re going to be able to rebuild their country is to utilize the genius of the United States of America.”
When asked how sweeping and debilitating attacks on Iran’s bridges and power plants might punish the people of Iran, whom Trump has claimed to be liberating — among a revolving door of rationales for bringing the U.S. to war there — Trump said Iranian civilians “would be willing to suffer that for their freedom.”
Israel has also been issuing similar threats to Iran if it doesn’t end its blockade of the straight, which typically allows for transport of almost a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply. Trump is, of course, fixated on getting the strait reopened because he is suffering a political beating at home over a war that is bipartisanly unpopular and causing a surge in gas prices ahead of the midterms.
Democrats are already warning that Trump’s escalated threats are being made by an entirely “unhinged” and flailing president, and taking such a destructive military action would amount to a war crime.
“He’s definitely threatening a war crime against the people of Iran because he’s essentially saying that if they don’t open the Strait of Hormuz that he’s going to destroy their civilian infrastructure, destroy power plants, destroy bridges,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told NBC News Monday.
“The American people already recognize that this illegal war of choice is a big mistake,” he said.
— Nicole LaFond
He’s Also Threatening to Jail Journalists
During his lengthy press conference, which he held at the White House alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, Trump also outlined his ambitions to jail journalists at whichever news outlet first reported on the existence of a second U.S. airman who was missing after an attack on an American fighter jet in Iran late last week.
Hegseth, Caine and Trump described the details of the mission to rescue both the pilot and the other American servicemember. The pilot was rescued within a few hours of the shoot down, but the other airman was stuck in Iran and not recovered until Sunday.
“We think we’ll be able to find it out,” Trump said of figuring out the identity of a source who may have shared that intelligence with the news media. “Because we’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, ‘National security. Give it up or go to jail.’”
— Nicole LaFond
Just Has to Learn Spanish First
Trump, during his press conference, also got into his apparent interest in running for president in Venezuela, where, he claims, people are begging him to be their new leader. 🙄
“Just so you understand, the people of Venezuela, they say if I ran for president of Venezuela — I’m polling higher than anyone has ever polled in Venezuela, so after I’m finished with this, I can go to Venezuela, I will quickly learn Spanish — won’t take too long, I’m good at language — and I will go to Venezuela, I gotta run for president.”
“Done with this” might be as close as we get to him admitting he won’t try to stay in office past 2028.
— Nicole LaFond
Why Aren’t More Dems Brutalizing Him for This?
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) spoke out about Trump’s recent remarks in which he declared that the federal government should not be funding social services or safety net programs because it’s too busy fighting wars.
“That’s nonsense,” Moore said during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “And that’s not what any of us want. We don’t want to be fighting foreign wars while you’re taking away our health care.”
“I think the president still does not have a full articulation as to why gas prices are going up in the first place, or what’s going to be necessary or required to be able to bring them down,” he continued.
Trump’s remarks came around the time last week that discussions were first beginning to emerge among Republican lawmakers about how to fund Trump’s war in Iran. They, too, were openly questioning whether Congress might need to cut Medicaid and Medicare again in order to do so, implying the budget reconciliation process might require them to though, as my colleague Emine Yücel has reported, that is not in fact how reconciliation works.
— Nicole LaFond
Kaine Questions if Congress Should Give a Mammoth ‘Blank Check’ to Hegseth’s DoD
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) on Sunday was skeptical of the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion request for the Department of Defense for the next fiscal year.
“I have a hard time seeing that size of an increase as being justified,” Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told NBC News.
If the request — the details of which were outlined in the president’s budget request last week— is approved it would be the largest boost to the military’s budget in modern history, not counting the times the U.S. was involved in a war where they had boots on the ground.
Kaine indicated he is concerned about handing a “blank check” of this size to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid his recent decision making — including his call to fire Army chief of staff, Gen. Randy George and several other high ranking officers last week.
“Here’s a question we have to ask, which is it’s not just about the dollars, it’s about the Pentagon managing the money,” Kaine said. “You just watched the secretary of defense fire very respected Army leadership in the middle of a war — respected leadership on both sides of the aisle in both houses — and there’s deep questions about why.”
“I don’t think Congress is going to be in a mood to write a blank check to a leadership team, a civilian leadership team that seems so inept these days,” he added.
— Emine Yücel
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Taco Tuesday anyone?
Trump says Iran could be taken out in one night and that one night might be tomorrow night"
Ohh kay then just on Sunday trump said to watch what happens tuesday at 8pm eastern time
. That’s around 5AM Wednesday in Tehran. Not really an optimal bombing time frame.
One night. If one night is all that is needed why have we been screwing around shooting, bombing and killing people since February 28th?
Just when you thought he had no corner of “unhinged” left to explore . . .
Iran has a population of over 92 million, more than 25% the size of the U.S. Depriving that many people of electricity, and imposing the attendant horrors of power outages on innocent human beings, is a war crime of monstrous proportions. Shitler, his stooges, and silent Republicans everywhere would, in any kind of a just world, be hiring lawyers for their trials at the Hague.
Seems like Republicans are either on vacation or in hiding right now, while (some) Dems are filling the vacuum with interviews and other public statements.
It’s a mere seven months til November. The messaging really needs to focus on all the ways Tr*mp & Co. are wasting precious blood and treasure on reckless military adventures, while ignoring the critical needs of Americans of all political stripes: jobs, housing, healthcare. And just keep banging that drum. The GOP fails us. The Dems always repair the damage. One of the Fed governors said today they may need to raise interest rates again due to high gas prices and other costs the march of folly in Iran is causing.
People like Wes Moore get it. So does my senator Patty Murray. There are others, but, it being Easter week, they may feel they don’t have an audience til Congress reconvenes. And sometimes it’s not a bad idea to just let Tr*mp continue his insane yammering. Let him keep digging.
The bug in the ointment is the SAVE Act and the idiotic EO’s about mail-in ballots. I really believe if we can stave off the threats to our voting rights we will succeed in November.