Trump dials up Iran rhetoric with expletive-filled deadline threat

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President Trump amplified his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, declaring in a profanity-laced social media post over the weekend that the U.S. will escalate attacks on Iran’s civilian infrastructure if no agreement is reached by Tuesday. 

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday. 

The threat drew warnings of potential war crimes from Democrats and military experts.  

“Trump is calling reporters today to tell them he is going to commit mass war crimes next week. GOP leaders need to stop him,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a thread on the social platform X, referring to Trump’s remark to ABC News’s Rachel Scott that the U.S. would be “blowing up the whole country” if Iran remains defiant.  

 “Never mind that blowing up bridges and power plants and killing innocent Iranians won’t reopen the Strait. It’s also a clear war crime,” Murphy added. 

Both Reuters and Axios reported that talks on a temporary ceasefire ramped up over the weekend, but that Tehran was refusing demands to reopen the Strait as part of a short-term deal. 

The president has twice pushed back a deadline for Iran to reopen the strait, which has been effectively closed since the war began more than five weeks ago, expressing some optimism that Iran was interested in making a deal. 

But Iranian officials have publicly pushed back on the president’s claims, and Trump threatened to send Iran “back to the stone ages” during a primetime speech last week. And Trump repeatedly doubled down on his delayed deadline this weekend.  

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them,” he said on Truth Social on Saturday. 

He cryptically posted “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time” later on Sunday but didn’t make clear exactly what the time refers to. 

Trump is holding a press briefing with military leadership today at 1 p.m. at the White House, where additional updates on the situation are expected. 

If Trump were to follow through on his threat, it would mark a significant escalation in the war, which Trump said in his Wednesday address the U.S. would conclude in the next two to three weeks. 

Trump told The Hill’s Julia Manchester and Mallory Wilson in a phone interview Sunday that he wouldn’t rule out sending in ground troops if Tehran doesn’t make a deal. 

“Normal people would make a deal. Smart people would make a deal,” he said. “If they were smart, they would make a deal.” 

Trump also told Scott of ABC News that the conflict should be over in days and not weeks.  

Trump has reportedly been weighing deploying ground troops to seize Kharg Island, an area inside the Persian Gulf key to Iran’s oil exports, or taking Iran’s enriched uranium, believed to be buried in a bombed-out nuclear facility.  

But any ground incursion would potentially expose U.S. forces to casualties and could extend the war even further. 

Iran shot down a U.S. Air Force fighter jet on Friday, marking the first time it has downed an American fighter jet since the war began. The two pilots of the F-15E Strike Eagle were both rescued, including one who had been missing for a day. 

“We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social. 

Polls show most Americans oppose his handling of the conflict and oil and gas prices have soared, adding pressure on the president. The average national cost of gas surpassed $4.10 per gallon over the weekend, according to AAA. 

The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky reports an international jet fuel shortage is also driving up airfares and causing thousands of flight cancellations, an effect that analysts warn could get worse in the coming weeks. 

But the president has sought to assure the country that the economic impacts of the war will be short-lived, and prices will quickly come down once the operation ends. 

▪ The Hill: Trump roils NATO as pressure builds on Strait of Hormuz. 

▪ The Associated Press: U.S.........

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