US politicians from across the political spectrum have reacted with alarm to President Donald Trump’s abusive, expletive-laden threat to Iran, in which he called on the regime to “open the fuckin’ strait [of Hormuz], you crazy bastards”. The president wrote on his Truth Social platform that Tuesday would be “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day” in Iran, threatening further attacks on the country’s energy and transport infrastructure.
The threat comes as the Trump administration approaches a self-imposed deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane for oil and gas that has been effectively shut since the US and Israel launched war on Iran at the end of February. Trump has threatened several deadlines to reopen the strait, and has expressed frustration with European and Nato allies who have refused to intervene in the crisis.
Former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, once a staunch Trump ally, described the president as “gone insane” and called on his administration to “beg forgiveness from God”. She argued that the strait is closed because the US and Israel started an “unprovoked war” based on “the same nuclear lies they’ve been telling for decades”. Greene broke from Trump last June over his strikes on Iran.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s rant resembled that of “an unhinged madman”, while independent Senator Bernie Sanders called it “dangerous and mentally unbalanced”. Senator Chris Murphy invoked the 25th Amendment, which would allow the vice-president to declare the president unfit for office. “He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more,” Murphy wrote.
Iranian deputy for communications Mehdi Tabatabaei said Iran would only open the strait after receiving compensation for war damages, paid via a “new legal regime” based on transit fees. He added that Trump had “resorted to obscenities and nonsense out of sheer desperation and anger”.
