There is a particular indignity that comes from living in America, derived from the experience of waking up in the morning to see reports that Donald Trump has said something profoundly evil, and then needing to type "truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump" into your web browser to see if he actually said that. Once there, you can see a post in which Trump did indeed threaten to wipe out the entire civilization of Iran, stacked on top of an ad for a sketchy herbal supplement of some sort:
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. 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. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
It's likely that this is the most proudly and nakedly evil statement ever made by a sitting U.S. President, and now we just have to sit around and see if he actually means it.
That Trump himself probably sees threatening nuclear holocaust against another country as nothing more than a negotiating tactic provides little comfort. It's clear that he is desperate to end our idiotic war with Iran, which he started for no reason and which has resulted in nothing but teaching Iran that it can throttle the world economy as it pleases by putting a toll system on the Strait of Hormuz, but there is no reasonable exit strategy due to the war's disastrous results.
Trump may be desperate and flailing when he threatens war crimes and genocide against Iran, but not having a clue what he's doing hasn't ever before stopped him from causing immense damage. To be confronted by this, the President of the United States threatening to wipe out an entire civilization for reasons that could range anywhere from prediction market manipulation to a sincere desire and willingness to kill millions of people, is as humiliating as it is terrifying. We made one of the dumbest, most evil people this country has ever produced the President—twice!—and this is the consequence. We're staring into the darkness, and on the other side of the void is a nuclear arsenal and a 79-year-old lunatic who has never made a wise decision in his life.
