President Donald Trump’s latest proclamation on Tuesday where he said that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” feels different than his past saber-rattling about Iran - and it should set off alarm bells for everyone.
The message is different from even his weekend yelp for Iran to “Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy b*****ds, or you’ll be living in Hell.” Even then, he seemed to lay down an artificial deadline of “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!”
Needless to say, threatening to kill an entire civilization – namely through attacking power plants and bridges – would constitute a war crime. And Trump doesn’t seem to care.
Furthermore, Trump is simply not telling the truth when he says that “we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail.” Despite killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and many top officials, the Iranian regime remains in place and it shows no signs of surrendering.
But what makes these words especially unique is the timing. Until now, Trump’s threats have struck a similar tone to his tariff policy: rant and rave throughout the weekend, which causes oil prices to spike and go into shock. Then, before the New York Stock Exchange opens, he de-escalates and then says that negotiations are underway. It’s the same approach that inspired Wall Street to coin the phrase “Trump Always Chickens Out”– also known as TACO.
But Trump made his remarks an hour and a half before the stock market’s opening bell. His words sent the stock market tumbling. If there was ever a sign that he was ready to pull the trigger, it was this.
To boot, Trump is doing this when Congress is on a self-imposed recess, meaning there is no way to call an emergency session to rein him in. Not that it would make any difference.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has consistently said Trump’s war is not actually a war. He’s said sending troops does not constitute boots on the ground. The House has consistently voted down War Powers Act resolutions that would put strings on how long Trump can deploy the armed forces.
The Senate has largely followed suit since the war began. And Democrats, being in the minority, have little authority to actually stop Trump.
The world waits to see the exact nature of what Trump will do tonight when the deadline hits. Will he really kill off a whole civilization?
Historically, he has been hesitant to commit to a full-on military campaign, as was the case with his strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and his attack on Venezuela earlier this year.
But if Trump were to follow through on his threats, it could mark a new step in American power where the United States is no longer seen as a force of stability, but rather at the mercy of an impulsive radical untethered by any constitutional restraints.
