Five hours of rage: Blow up everything in the whole country
First he wrote the post that shook the United States.
Five hours later he threatened to blow up all of Iran.
President Trump is now accused of planning war crimes that could kill thousands of civilians.
The post on Truth Social at 14.03 Swedish time on Sunday was remarkable even for Donald Trump.
That the president often expresses himself less diplomatically is nothing new.
But this was a couple of steps more.
"Deranged lunatic"
And the rage continued for several hours.
At the same time, his words topped all news sites and television broadcasts.
The reactions from the other side were not long in coming.
“Happy Easter, USA. While you go to church and celebrate with friends and family, the President of the United States is raging on social media like a completely deranged lunatic. He is threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies,” writes Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, on X.
His colleague in the Senate, Chris Murphy:
“This is completely deranged. He has already killed thousands. He will kill thousands more,” he writes on X.
Threats and swears
And Bernie Sanders:
“A month after the war in Iran began, this is the statement of the President of the United States on Easter Sunday. This is the outburst of a dangerous and mentally unstable individual. Congress must act NOW. Stop the war.”
His opponents in the Republican Party also had harsh words for him.
“The president has gone mad and you are all complicit,” writes Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former member of the House of Representatives on X, and addresses his supporters.
In the post, Trump calls on Iran to open “the fucking” Strait of Hormuz – and calls them “crazy bastards”. A mild translation in the context could be that he demands that “the fucking lunatics open the fucking strait”.
Five hours of outburst
If they do not obey, they will be “forced to live in hell”.
The president ends the post with “Praise be to Allah”.
But he was not done there. In a series of interviews published hours after the post, Trump continued to threaten total devastation in Iran.
– If they don’t act by Tuesday night, their power plants will be gone, and no bridges will be left standing, he told the Wall Street Journal.
– But we are very strong, and that country will need 20 years to rebuild – if they are lucky, if there is even any country left.
Believing in a quick deal
Trump was asked if he was worried that the civilian population in Iran would suffer in such a bombing campaign.
– No, they want us to, he replied.
At 19:17 Swedish time, ABC News published a telephone interview with Donald Trump in which he took the threats one step further.
The president said he expects the Iranian regime to agree to a deal “within days”.
– If it happens, it happens. And if they don't, we'll blow up the whole country.
Iranian response to Trump
He said much the same thing to the news site Axios when asked if a deal was close.
- There's a big chance, but if they don't make a deal, I'll blow everything up over there.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump has given the Iranians a deadline of 8 p.m. on Tuesday Eastern Time, 2 a.m. on Wednesday Swedish time.
- They have plenty of time to make a deal. If they don't, their whole country is gone, he tells ABC News.
"Your reckless actions are dragging the United States into a living hell for every single family," writes Iranian President Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in a response to Trump on X.
"Respect the rights of the Iranian people and stop this dangerous game."
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