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.
Key events
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.
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, National Security Agency and the Energy Department said hackers backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had begun cyber-attacks on US power infrastructure.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told the Washington Post that he has no plans to leave his position, despite ongoing tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that saw three other senior military leaders, including Army general Randy George, leave their posts last week.
“Serving under President Trump has been the honor of a lifetime and I remain laser focused on providing America with the strongest land fighting force the world has ever seen,” Driscoll told the Post. “I have no plans to depart or resign as the Secretary of the Army.”
The White House voiced support for Driscoll, who is a close personal friend of JD Vance, in a statement to the Post.
Sean Parnell, who is now serving as Hegseth’s spokesperson, has privately voiced an interest in Driscoll’s job, the Post reports. However, he declined to answer questions about the role in an interview with the Post and disputed claims that Hegseth and Driscoll were on tense terms.
The Trump administration will keep the $70m jet Kristi Noem leased during her time as homeland security secretary, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing a department spokesperson and other officials. Select cabinet secretaries and first lady Melania Trump willl have access to the luxury jet, a Boeing 737-Max equipped with a queen-size bed, showers, a kitchen, four flat-screen TVs and a bar.
While leading the Department of Homeland Security, Noem said the agency had leased the plane for deportation flights. The $70m jet was among three luxury planes that Noem faced criticism for obtaining with taxpayer dollars: she also spent $200m on two private Gulfstream jets for herself and deputy DHS secretary Troy Edgar.
Trump announced he was replacing Noem as head of DHS last month, after a series of highly publicized ICE killings in Minnesota.
The wife of a US army staff sergeant has been released from an immigration detention center in Louisiana after she was detained by ICE last week. Annie Ramos, a 22-year-old college student, was detained at a military base in Louisiana on Thursday as her husband, 23-year-old Matthew Blank, prepared to deploy.
“All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby. I want to finish my degree, continue my education, and serve my community – just as my husband serves our country with honor,” Ramos said in a statement after her release. “As Matthew continues preparing for his long career in the military, my focus now is on securing my status, continuing my studies, and building our life together.”
Pope Leo XIV called Donald Trump’s threat to annihilate “a whole civilization” tonight if Iran does not open the strait of Hormuz by 8pm ET “truly unacceptable.” In remarks to reporters, the first American pontiff added that attacks on civilian infrastructure would violate international law.
Here’s more of my colleagues’ recent coverage of Leo’s criticism of the Iran war:
The average price for a gallon of gas in the US is now $4.14, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
That is up from $2.98 at the end of February, when the US-Israel war on Iran began.
Here’s a recap of the day so far
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In a staggering post on social media, Donald Trump wrote that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”, ahead of his 8pm ET deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz. The president maintains that if a deal isn’t reached, the US will escalate its bombing campaign to target civilian and energy infrastructure, that would amount to a violation of international law.
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Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, has called Donald Trump an “extremely sick person” in response to the president’s recent post on Truth Social. “Each Republican who refuses to join us in voting against this wanton war of choice owns every consequence of whatever the hell this is,” Schumer added. House Democrats echoed his calls and issued a statement calling for lawmakers to return from recess in order to hold a vote to end the war on Iran. A move that is unlikely to yield any results given the GOP majority in both chambers of Congress.
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But some of the most forceful backlash is also 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 bridges and power plants. Former congresswoman 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. While 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.
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Brent crude has risen above $110 a barrel again, after Donald Trump warned Iran “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not make an agreement. Brent, the global oil benchmark, has see-sawed in volatile markets today, and is now up 0.8% at $110.67 a barrel.
As lawmakers condemn Trump’s comments, saying they are tantamount to the president telegraphing war crimes, my colleagues Joseph Gedeon and Lauren Gambino have more on the implications for international law.
Neither the US nor Iran is a member of the international criminal court, they write, meaning no formal ICC jurisdiction applies.
The more immediate legal framework is the Geneva conventions of 1949 onwards, which both countries have ratified. Article 33 of the Fourth Convention explicitly prohibits collective punishment of a civilian population.
Article 54 of Additional Protocol I – whose core principles are binding as customary international law even on states, like the US and Iran, that never ratified it – prohibits attacks on infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival, with only a narrow exception for objects used exclusively to sustain enemy armed forces.
The US has itself acknowledged this customary obligation, though the adoption of this position came under the Biden administration in 2024. In one formal UN submission, Washington said it treated the fundamental protections of Additional Protocol I as legally binding even without ratification.
House Democrats call for session to block war on Iran as Trump’s deadline looms
House Democratic leadership has issued a statement calling for lawmakers to return from recess to vote to block “this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III”.
Their comments come as Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz draws nearer. The president has vowed devastating military action that threatens to wipe out a “whole civilization” if the regime fails to reach an agreement by 8pm ET.
“Republicans have enabled and excused Donald Trump’s deeply dangerous and extreme behavior. Enough is enough,” top Democratic lawmakers in the lower chamber said. “It’s time for House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping this madness.”
Last month, the House – which has a razor-thin GOP majority – failed to pass a war powers resolution to limit further action in Iran. A similar measure failed in the Senate.
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.
Andrew Sparrow
Even Nigel Farage now believes that Donald Trump has gone too far. In the past the Reform UK leader has been one of the president’s biggest supporters in the UK. More recently he has started to stress that he does not agree with the president on everything.
But Trump’s latest Truth Social post has pushed Farage over the edge.
During a post-press conference walkabout in Bedworth, a Press Association reporter told Farage what Trump had said in his post and asked for a response. Farage said:
I am quite shocked just to hear that. That is over the top in every single way.
Yes of course he wants to threaten – to get them to the negotiating table. But those words are … they’re way too far.
