Donald Trump has made some of the most aggressive public threats about military action of any modern US president. He has walked back many of them too.
The 80-year-old Republican’s comments about the US war against Iran have shifted, sometimes dramatically and quickly, since the conflict erupted on February 28.
He has repeatedly declared victory, claiming Iran’s military capabilities were utterly defeated, only to later tweak the war timeline or threaten Tehran with more strikes.
He praised Iran’s new leaders on June 17 as “very smart” and “far less radicali[s]ed” than their predecessors killed in US and Israeli strikes. By July 8, a frustrated Trump changed his tune. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore, they’re scum,” he said.
Here are some of the main examples of Trump’s threats against Iran, and how he has dialled them back.
March 21
“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”
Trump’s threat, made on his Truth Social platform, was striking given that an intentional attack on power plants, deemed essential civilian infrastructure, is widely considered a war crime.
March 23
Two days later Trump extended the deadline for five days, citing “very good and productive conversations” with Iran. He then paused the “period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 days” to April 6, citing ongoing diplomatic talks.
April 5
With time running out on his 10-day extension, Trump unleashed a profanity-laded post on Easter Sunday: “Open the F*****’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” He concluded by saying “Praise be to Allah.”
April 7
“A whole civili[s]ation will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump announced in a post that many interpreted as a threat to wipe out Iran and it’s population of roughly 90 million.
April 7, hours later
“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump said, accepting a truce proposal from war mediators after he spoke to leaders in Pakistan.
June 11
“The United States will be hitting Iran… VERY HARD TONIGHT” and “at some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island” and other oil infrastructure locations, Trump posted on Truth Social.
June 11, five hours later
Five hours later Trump said he “cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” citing progress in negotiations towards securing a deal aimed at ending the war.
An interim deal to end the fighting was signed in June, but within a month the conflict re-intensified, with Iran hitting US facilities across the Middle East and US forces striking Iranian coastal defenses but expanding the targets to include bridges and infrastructure.
July 31
“We’ll be hitting them very hard, and you know at some point they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore,’” Trump told a meeting of his cabinet Friday.
August 1
“We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack,” Trump said, claiming that “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”
Iran’s state media vigorously denied that such a request was made by the Islamic republic.
