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Trump’s ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ Iran threat polarizes social media
Social media exploded on Tuesday morning when President Donald Trump warned in a Truth Social post that an entire “civilization will die tonight,” while threatening a devastating U.S. attack against Iran that prompted outrage from critics.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump declared in the post.
“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? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” Trump continued. “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”
In a prior Truth Social post issued on Easter Sunday, the president had threatened a Tuesday attack on the Middle Eastern country’s power plants and bridges. During remarks on Monday, Trump indicated the U.S. has “a plan … where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock.”
Trump gave the Iranian regime until 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday to agree to a ceasefire that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. He has said he doesn’t want the attack to happen, but the threat against an entire civilization polarized social media.
Some accused the president of threatening genocide, while others suggested the tough talk is just a negotiation tactic.
Newsweek’s Josh Hammer recalled a 2016 Salena Zito quote to “take Trump seriously but not literally,” and said a decade later that message is still accurate.
“And it’s frankly amazing that it still needs to be said,” Hammer wrote.
TRUMP DEADLINE FOR IRAN TICKS CLOSER AS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC REJECTS TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE
New York Times columnist David French quickly condemned the message.
“This is completely deranged rhetoric. If you heard this kind of ranting from a family member who possessed no power at all, you’d be worried about them. From the president, it’s horrifying. This is obvious 25th Amendment territory, but people are so desensitized that they can’t see it,” French responded.
Anti-Trump pundit Charlie Sykes declared he had “three quick thoughts” that weren’t particularly flattering, asking, “(1) Has any president of this country — or for that matter, any leader of a liberal democracy — ever threatened the destruction of a ‘whole civilization’ before?”
“(2) The line between the so-called ‘madman theory’ and an actual madman is quite thin, isn’t it? (3) It really was a bad idea to entrust this man with the nuclear button, wasn’t it?” Sykes continued.
Billionaire Tom Steyer, the outspoken liberal megadonor and Califonria gubertorial candidate, declared that Trump should “be out” of office.
“If this isn’t a reason to invoke the 25th Amendment, then nothing is,” Steyer wrote. “He’s out of his mind.”
While many have condemned Trump’s threat, others have shown support or downplayed the rhetoric.
“The truth is, no pundit, influencer, or anonymous furry has a clue as to what Trump is going to do tonight. That is perhaps Trump’s ultimate superpower, keeping everyone on their toes after all these years. I, for one, have faith in him and the people around him,” libertarian podcaster Dave Rubin wrote.
“Donald Trump has been a national politician for a decade. Anyone still reacting to the guy’s negotiating tactics and hyperbole with this sort of hysteria ten years in should be disqualified from political commentary. If he nukes Tehran at 8pm, I’ll admit I’m the crazy one,” Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing wrote.
Outkick’s Clay Travis wrote, “Donald Trump has made hyperbolic comments as part of negotiation tactics for a full decade, especially on social media, and yet people still run around like insane people reacting to his posts on here. I truly don’t get it.”
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Conservative radio host Erick Erickson said, “The Left ascribes rational purpose to everyone other than Trump. Probably not a coincidence that he has beaten them twice.”
Meanwhile, Bill Kristol declared, “To conservatives who object when some of us have suggested Trump is a fascist, and who complain when we point out much of real existing American conservatism has devolved into fascism, if you’re silent about Trump’s threat of genocide you’re proving the point you’ve objected to.”
MS NOW political analyst Richard Stengel wrote, “An American president threatening the death of an ancient civilization is in some ways the end of the 250-year moral experiment of a constitutional republic that the framers saw as a model for all mankind.”
Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who quit last month over his opposition to the Iran war, also warned on Tuesday that the president’s proposed course of action would threaten America’s status as the world’s top superpower.
“Trump believes he is threatening Iran with destruction, but it is America that now stands in danger. If he attempts to eradicate Iranian civilization, the United States will no longer be viewed as a stabilizing force in the world, but as an agent of chaos —effectively ending our status as the world’s greatest superpower,” Kent wrote in a post on X. “This would upend our economy and shatter the global order. The process is already underway, yet we still have time to avert catastrophe if Trump finds the courage to pursue serious negotiations rather than reckless rage and destruction.”
Many others took to social media with thoughts on Trump’s threat:
The White House said Iran still has time to make a deal.
“The Iranian regime has until 8PM Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States. Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital when asked about criticism of the threat.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
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Carville tells Dems to quietly prepare power grab with DC, Puerto Rico statehood and Supreme Court packing
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville suggested on Thursday that Democrats should quietly prepare to launch a variety of structural changes to ensure a political advantage once they regain power.
Carville and co-host Al Hunt of the “Politics War Room” podcast took questions from listeners on an episode released Thursday. One asked that if Democrats return to power in 2029, whether they should “flood the zone with a corrective implementation policy using their majority to simultaneously enact a myriad of structural changes to save our democracy and preserve our rights?”
“I’ve got some thoughts about what the Democrats should do [when] they return to power in 2029,” Hunt replied. “But, you know, I haven’t thought it through thoroughly, yet. I’m really focused on what they should do when they win the House and maybe the Senate in 2027, and that’s to hold Trump as accountable as they possibly can.”
Carville, however, offered a more aggressive plan of action, saying, “If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, I think on day one, they should make Puerto Rico [and] D.C. a state, and they should expand the Supreme Court to 13. F— it. Eat our dust.”
CARVILLE PREDICTS TRUMP WON’T BE PRESIDENT NEXT YEAR, THREATENS DEMOCRATIC RETRIBUTION
Statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are believed to overwhelmingly favor Democrats, likely giving them four more Senate seats. This move, along with expanding the Supreme Court, would likely be viewed by Republicans as a power grab in the pursuit of ensuring a party’s political dominance.
“They’ve done everything they could,” Carville continued. “They held up the 2000 election. They stole it. They’ve stolen Supreme Court seats. They’ve gerrymandered everything that you can.”
In order to make these changes happen, Carville advises Democrats not to publicly advertise them.
“Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it,” he said.
He then complained about how low-populated states are able to elect too many senators.
JAMES CARVILLE URGES DEMOCRATS TO CONSIDER EXPANDING SUPREME COURT IF THEY REGAIN POWER
Carville has made bombastic predictions before, such as believing before the election that Trump, having returned to the White House, would jail journalists and commentators like himself.
But after the first few months of Trump’s presidency, Trump’s once seemingly unbreakable coalition has shattered as some of his most prominent backers have accused him of betraying key campaign promises. With experts predicting defeat for Republicans in the midterm elections, Carville thinks the already stymied president will resign from the presidency afterward.
He has also predicted that political and legal retribution will not only target Trump, but his family, their spouses, and his allies.
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WWE women’s champ Jade Cargill on why she has the edge over Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 42
Jade Cargill has been a constant presence in the WrestleMania spotlight since she joined WWE in 2023.
Cargill teamed with Naomi and Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 40 to defeat Dakota Kai, Asuka and Kairi Sane. Cargill pinned Kai for the win in that match. At WrestleMania 41, Cargill made history being a part of the first non-stipulation women’s singles match at the event. She defeated Naomi after their friendship fracture.
She is back in the spotlight once more – this time as the WWE women’s champion.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Cargill won the title at Saturday Night’s Main Event in November, defeating Tiffany Stratton. On Night 2 of WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, she will defend the championship against women’s Elimination Chamber winner Rhea Ripley.
She expressed to Fox News Digital in an interview before her match on Sunday night that she has the edge going in.
“I mean, I’m me. I’m Jade Cargill. I’m the champ. I’m stronger. I’m bigger,” she said. “I mean, she’s been here before, right? Several times. So have I. I’ve had matches against Naomi. Naomi is spectacular in her own right. She was our champion. The only reason why she dropped the title was because she was pregnant. So, it’s not like I haven’t gone up against champions who have graced major events and who have been spectacular in their own right.
“I’ve done this before. I mean, I’m me, that’s all I have to say. The only way to go is up. She’s been up. It’s time to go down. I just don’t see it ending right now. I’m 2-0. I’m red hot. I just formed a group with Michin and B-Fab. Who’s going to stop us?”
Cargill wouldn’t say whether Michin and B-Fab will be by her side at her WrestleMania match but stressed that she found allies in them as Ripley turned her attention away from “Monday Night Raw” and onto “Friday Night Smackdown.”
WWE CHAMP JADE CARGILL VERY HOPEFUL TO MEET ‘STONE COLD’ STEVE AUSTIN AT HALL OF FAME CEREMONY
She suggested to Fox News Digital the three were allies of convenience rather than a full-fledged stable.
“We’re more of allies. We’re not a group, we’re more of allies. They had their issues with her. I came in with my issues. Like, who are you to come to SmackDown? And I look at our locker room and I’m like, ‘This girl came from Raw to SmackDown and she thinks she’s going to run things and you guys are gonna let …’ Because I played by the rules for too long. I was trying to adjust. It was a year of adjustments – all these things. I was trying to do things the right way when all along, that little voice in me was telling me, ‘No, you know the right way, and the right way is left. Don’t go right. Don’t listen. It’s gonna get you nowhere. You’re going to be going in circles for years.’ And that’s what I was doing.
“So, we all came together and we figured out … Well, they came to me and it was more so, like, ‘You know what? You were right. It shouldn’t be like this. We should band together and get this person who is an outsider, let’s get her out.’ She doesn’t even deserve to be on SmackDown. And that’s why we became allies. We both have a common enemy. And so, we were like, let’s get rid of this girl. Let’s be done. And that was smart.”
Cargill said getting to this point had been a lot of “trial and error” since she joined WWE.
She made her debut at the 2024 Royal Rumble and made her mark on SmackDown by helping out Naomi and Belair. She and Belair became two-time tag team champions in that span and in 2025, she won the Queen of the Ring tournament.
“It’s been a trial-and-error run. It’s also been a trial of adjustments because I was used to being one way,” Cargill told Fox News Digital. “I came in as a babyface while naturally I’m a heel. I want people to hate me. I love the motivation behind it. And then going from being all about myself and into a tag team, that was an adjustment as well.
“It was a lot of elements that I had to change about myself and about my character and growing and learning to be selfless and learning to be a good guy and to care. … So, it was years of trial and error and just adjustments.”
Cargill’s reign has surpassed 165 days and will look to continue her dominance through WrestleMania 42 this weekend.
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Starmer and Macron accused of ‘playing at being relevant’ with Strait of Hormuz plan
As British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron convene a summit Friday on the future of the Strait of Hormuz, the two leaders are pushing a European-led plan to reopen the vital shipping lane after the war, without U.S. leadership.
The proposal envisions a post-conflict naval mission made up of Britain, France and other “non-belligerent” countries that would deploy only after fighting ends. Unlike President Donald Trump’s current strategy of blockading Iranian ports with U.S. naval power, the Anglo-French initiative is intended to be separate from the warring parties and focused on restoring commercial shipping.
A senior European official insisted the initiative is not meant to go around Washington, telling Fox News Digital that Paris began discussing a future maritime mission “from day one” of the conflict and is now formalizing those plans jointly with London.
NATO CHIEF SIGNALS ALLIES MAY ACT ON HORMUZ, WARNS OF ‘UNHEALTHY CODEPENDENCE’ ON US
Macron and Starmer are expected to host a summit to advance what both governments describe as a “coordinated, independent, multinational plan” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once the fighting ends.
“France and the United Kingdom will also host a conference in Paris this Friday, bringing together by video conference non-belligerent countries ready to contribute, alongside us, to a multilateral and purely defensive mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait when security conditions allow,” Macron wrote on X.
Starmer similarly described the effort as a “coordinated, independent, multinational plan to safeguard international shipping when the conflict ends,” saying Britain had already convened more than 40 nations around the initiative, Reuters reported. Washington was not part of those earlier talks.
The European senior official said the proposed force would be “strictly defensive” and would only deploy after active fighting and bombardment have ended, with the goal of restoring normal shipping rather than enforcing a wartime corridor.
“What we want in the end is no blockade, no toll, no nothing that blocks the fluidity of what is going through the Strait of Hormuz,” the official told Fox News Digital, while stressing that Iran remains “the first problem.”
The official also rejected suggestions that Paris and London are trying to sideline the Trump administration, saying the U.S. has been kept informed and that there is extensive coordination with Washington even if the emerging mission is currently limited to “non-belligerent” countries.
WATCH: EX-NATO CHIEF DRAWS RED LINE AS TRUMP FUMES ALLIANCE ABANDONED US DURING IRAN WAR
“We’re coordinating a lot with them,” the official said, adding that the goal is to create a framework that can operate once the conflict is over.
Macron has repeatedly emphasized that France’s envisioned mission would be “strictly defensive” and ruled out escorting ships while “bombings” are ongoing. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said “several dozen countries” already had participated in preparatory discussions led by military chiefs of staff, and that any future mission would also require coordination with Gulf coastal states, according to Reuters.
The Anglo-French initiative comes as Trump has taken a far more aggressive approach, ordering the U.S. Navy to blockade Iranian ports and continue operations aimed at securing the strategic waterway after ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran collapsed in Pakistan.
Critics argue that without American military power, the European proposal risks being largely symbolic.
PAKISTANI GENERAL SAYS IRAN DIPLOMACY STILL ‘ALIVE, DESPITE US BLOCKADE, FAILED TALKS
Britain and France are overstating what they can realistically achieve, The Henry Jackson Society analyst Barak Seener said.
“Britain and France are playing at being relevant as so-called ‘Middle Powers’ in international affairs,” Seener told Fox News Digital.
“Keir Starmer’s assertion ‘We’re not getting dragged into the war’ disguises the embarrassing fact that the Royal Navy is facing a hollowed out crisis, causing the initiative to be ‘strictly defensive’,” he said.
“France’s navy is also facing structural and budgetary pressures that strain its ability to conduct high-tempo operations.”
“It is laughable that a European coalition of ‘non-belligerent’ countries that are only willing to engage once hostilities have ended can even speak of protecting its shipping lanes,” Seener added.
“Ultimately, the U.S.’s deployment of hard power, consisting of carrier strike groups and fighter aircraft to blockade Iranian ports and clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz, can protect shipping lanes.”
The U.K. government and the White House did not reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment before publication.
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