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Maga stalwarts break with Trump as he threatens to eradicate a 'whole civilization'
Donald Trump’s threat to eradicate a “whole civilization” if Iran refuses a deal that includes reopening the strait of Hormuz has thrown the country’s political split‑screen into even starker relief.
Republicans and several former officials have praised the administration’s stance in the stalled negotiations with Tehran as overdue decisiveness. Democrats, by contrast, described the president’s latest remarks – startling even by the standards of a leader who routinely escalates his own rhetoric – as grounds for removal.
But some of the most forceful backlash is coming from inside Trump’s own coalition. A number of far‑right commentators who once formed the bedrock of his base have broken with him over Operation Epic Fury and his threats to strike civilian and energy infrastructure. Many accuse him of abandoning his campaign promise to keep the US out of foreign conflicts in the weeks since the US‑Israel war on Iran began.
Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson called the strategy “vile on every level” on Monday’s episode of his online show, saying that “not even a month and a half into the conflict … we’re going to use our military to kill the civilians of this country”.
Marjorie Taylor Greene – previously one of Trump’s most reliable allies on Capitol Hill – has joined Democrats in calling for his removal under the 25th amendment. Conspiracy theorist and rightwing broadcaster Alex Jones also urged Trump’s ouster. “You can have a good leader, and they just go crazy,” he said on social media. “That’s the madness of a king.”
Meanwhile Candace Owens, once a darling of the Maga movement, reiterated her condemnation of the bombing campaign, calling Trump “a genocidal lunatic” and urging Congress and the military to intervene.
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Iran’s Supreme Security Council has accepted a two-week ceasefire in its war with the United States and Israel.
Iranian state media says negotiations with the US will be held in Islamabad beginning Friday 10 April.
Jonathan Yerushalmy
Even as Trump announces the outlines of a ceasefire agreement, Israel’s military has warned that Iran is firing missiles toward it.
The warning came just minutes after Trump said he had agreed to suspend a devastating attack on Iran by two weeks and was ready for a ceasefire in the war if Tehran completely reopens the vital strait of Hormuz.
The [Israeli army] identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat.”
Blasts were heard from Jerusalem and Jericho on the occupied West Bank, AFP correspondents said.
The Israeli military told people in the areas affected by the incoming missile warnings to seek safety in bomb
Trump announces two-week 'double sided' ceasefire with Iran and 'workable' peace plan
Donald Trump will “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks” following conversations with Pakistani leaders.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he had agreed to this “double sided CEASEFIRE” because the United States has “already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East.” He added, “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
Trump said Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and field marshal Asim Munir had brokered the agreement, which he also noted is subject to Iran opening the strait of Hormuz.
As Donald Trump’s 8pm ET deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz approaches, or face the demonstrators have gathered outside the White House to protest against the war in Iran.
Here are some images from the wires:
Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, says Senate majority leader John Thune must reconvene the Senate so it can vote to stop the United States’s war in Iran.
“Congress needs to pull the emergency brake now. We should be voting to stop Trump’s war today,” Warren said in a newly released video.
“We don’t know what will happen tonight…But I do know that Congress has the power and the responsibility to end Trump’s war. Enough. Call your representatives. And tell these Republicans to grow a backbone and do their damn jobs.”
Lucy Campbell
US senator Ron Johnson, a close ally of Donald Trump, warned on Monday that the US president would lose his support if he struck Iran’s civilian infrastructure, as a small chorus of Republican unease begins to grow.
Speaking on the John Solomon Reports podcast on Monday, Johnson said: “I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure.” He added: “I hope and pray that President Trump is just using this as bluster.”
After Trump’s staggering warning on Tuesday morning that Iran’s “whole civilisation will die”, Johnson told the Wall Street Journal that the president would forfeit his backing and it would be “a huge mistake” if he carried out his threat to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages”.
I think it would be a huge mistake. I mean, he loses me if he attacks civilian targets. Whatever we do has to be within the laws of warfare.
Most Republicans have stayed schtum on Trump’s threat, but a handful have urged caution and called for de-escalation.
Jason Carter, the grandson of former president Jimmy Carter and chair of The Carter Center Board of Trustees, denounced Donald Trump’s threat to annihilate a “whole civilization”. Jimmy Carter was president of the United States in 1979, during the Iran hostage crisis.
“If my grandfather were here he would challenge all Americans - Democrats, Republicans and especially Christians who worship the Prince of Peace – to stand up and say enough is enough. The Islamist government of Iran has been our enemy, including an enemy of my family, but the people of Iran have never been our enemy. This country must be better than Donald Trump’s unbridled and dangerous rhetoric,” said Jason Carter.
Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, has called on Donald Trump’s cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment, which removes a president who is deemed unfit for office.
“Donald Trump’s instability is more clear and dangerous than ever,” Pelosi said. “If the Cabinet is not willing to invoke the 25th Amendment and restore sanity, Republicans must reconvene Congress to end this war.”
So far today, more than 20 Democratic members of Congress have called for Trump’s cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have shot a man in central California’s Stanislaus County.
According to a Department of Homeland Security statement, agents were conducting a targeted traffic stop when the man, identified as Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, “weaponized his vehicle”. Former DHS secretary Kristi Noem repeatedly used the same phrase to describe the actions of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother who ICE agents fatally shot in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Acting ICE director Todd Lyons said officers fired defenisvely and claimed that Mendoza Hernandez is a gang member wanted for questioning in connection to a murder. Earlier this year, DHS claimed that two other people shot in Oregon were “vicious” gang members who had “attempted to run over” officers. Court records later showed those claims were false.
Mendoza Hernandez has been taken to a hospital though his condition remains unknown.
Iranian hackers target water and energy systems, says federal security agencies
Federal security agencies say that Iranian hackers have begun cyber-attacks aimed at water and energy systems in the United States hours after Donald Trump threatened “every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again.”
In a joint statement, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Security Agency and the Energy Department said hackers backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had begun cyber-attacks on US power infrastructure.
