Trump Warns “A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight”

President Donald Trump issued a grave warning to Iran – reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8:00 p.m. EST, or else “A whole civilization will die tonight.”

Now the U.S. military awaits its next orders while we wait to see if Iran – which has rejected a proposed temporary ceasefire – will heed Trump’s warning.

As reported by The Hill:

President Trump issued an ominous threat to Iran with mixed messages on Tuesday ahead of an 8 p.m. EDT deadline he set, in which he warned “a whole civilization will die tonight” unless “something revolutionary wonderful” occurs. 

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump insists there has been regime change in Iran, but the country’s leadership has elected the son of the late supreme leader, who was killed on the first day of the war.

Other Iranian officials, such as the foreign minister and the speaker of Parliament, have been defiant of the U.S.-Israeli attacks, even going so far as to encourage people to form human chains around power plants Trump is threatening to strike.

Obviously, this is a very serious message and not to be taken lightly. On the other hand, we know that the Iranian regime has never been amenable to diplomacy and being handled with kid gloves. So it seems the President is choosing to use tougher rhetoric in the hopes that the regime will take him seriously.

But there’s no denying it’s a risky gambit on President Trump’s part, and now it has to work. There’s no margin for miscalculating their response.

Like most of you, I would rather see this come to a peaceful resolution without massive destruction, so I’m certainly hoping it works. Because the harsh reality is, if the 8:00 deadline comes and goes and Iran does not respond favorably, then the President could find himself painted into a corner if he doesn’t follow through. And for what it’s worth, so far the IRGC has not capitulated to tough talk – or even military strikes – making this a delicate game of chicken.

So far the closest we’ve seen to a response from Iran is a national message urging mothers and fathers to send their children to stand in front of bridges and power plants. It is hard to fathom a government telling its citizens to sacrifice their children as human shields, yet it speaks to the brutality of this regime.

As for decimating an entire civilization, President Trump said he doesn’t want this to happen, and he remains hopeful that “something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.” Plus, he ended his statement with “God Bless the Great People of Iran.” That may indicate that when the President says “a civilization will die,” he is referring to the regime and IRGC – and not the Iranian citizens.

Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Ric Grenell joined us on the broadcast to share his unique insight. I asked Ric what he would say to those arguing that the President should exercise more diplomacy and not use such fiery language:

Look, I think we should judge our Presidents by what they get accomplished, not their tactics. Gone is the day that we sit by and we just say, “Oh, I want a President who has certain tactics or certain personalities.” We need to judge the outcome.

I don’t buy into this whole thing of  “act presidential.” I’m not sure what that means because let me just give you a little brief history. We’ve tried Presidents and Secretaries of State and diplomats who have been nothing but perfect diplomats, saying the exact perfect thing, and they have produced zero. . . . So I’m tired of critiquing the styles, and I want to critique the performance.

Donald Trump has shown us he knows how to deliver. He knows how to negotiate. He’s increased NATO spending to 2% in his first term. He’s now increased NATO to 5% in his second term, and that’s the standard people are raising up and doing it. He holds people to account. He’s got a very tough negotiating style, but guess what? He wins, and thank God we have a President who wins.

For now, we can only wait and pray and see what happens at 8:01.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included more frank discussion of President Trump’s statement on Truth Social and the responses across the country and the world, including analysis from my brother, ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow.

Watch the full broadcast below: