President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to eliminate the “whole” Iranian civilization if its government did not meet his many demands, in a sharp escalation of his war with the Islamic Republic.
In a morning post on his Truth Social platform, Trump sent more conflicting messages about his intentions and how far he might be willing to go to end his feud with Tehran. When he first announced the ongoing bombardment of Iran in the wee hours of Feb. 28, Trump told the Iranian people he wanted to “help” them and said he eventually would urge them into their streets to oust their hard-line government.
But as a Trump-set deadline of Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern approached for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the president had changed his tune dramatically.
