{"id":207821,"date":"2026-04-16T01:01:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T01:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/unhinged-madman-us-politicians-react-to-trumps-expletive-laden-threat-to-iran-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T01:01:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T01:01:24","slug":"unhinged-madman-us-politicians-react-to-trumps-expletive-laden-threat-to-iran-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/unhinged-madman-us-politicians-react-to-trumps-expletive-laden-threat-to-iran-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Unhinged madman\u2019: US politicians react to Trump\u2019s expletive-laden threat to Iran – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Bernie Sanders among those responding with alarm to Trump writing \u2018open the fuckin\u2019 strait, you crazy bastards\u2019
Some US politicians have reacted with alarm and questioned the US president\u2019s mental state after Donald Trump<\/a> issued an abusive, expletive-laden threat<\/a> to Iran<\/a> in which he called on the regime to \u201copen the fuckin\u2019 strait [of Hormuz], you crazy bastards\u201d, as he threatened to further attack the country\u2019s energy and transport infrastructure.
The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform: \u201c<\/em>Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran<\/a>. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin\u2019 Strait, you crazy bastards, or you\u2019ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.\u201d<\/em>
It comes as the Trump administration<\/a> hurtles towards another<\/a> self-imposed deadline<\/a> \u2013 this time, Tuesday evening \u2013 for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz. One of the world\u2019s most critical shipping lanes for oil and gas, the strait has been effectively shut since the US and Israel launched war on Iran at the end of February, causing oil prices around the world to soar to record highs.
Trump has threatened Tehran with several deadlines in an effort to reopen the key maritime corridor, and has focused his frustration on European and Nato allies<\/a> who have rejected the legality of the US-Israeli war on Iran<\/a> and refused to intervene in the strait of Hormuz crisis \u2013 prompting Trump to threaten to withdraw the US from Nato<\/a>.
Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president\u2019s office, said on Sunday that Iran would only open the strait after receiving compensation for war damages, paid via a \u201cnew legal regime\u201d based on transit fees.
He added that Trump, with his threats to attack Iran\u2019s civil infrastructure<\/a> over the strait\u2019s closure, had \u201cresorted to obscenities and nonsense out of sheer desperation and anger\u201d.
Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a>, a former staunch ally turned Trump critic, said everyone in the Trump administration who claims to be a Christian needed to \u201cbeg forgiveness from God\u201d and intervene in the president\u2019s \u201cmadness\u201d.
In a lengthy post on X<\/a>, the former Republican congresswoman wrote: \u201cI know all of you and him and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit. I\u2019m not defending Iran but let\u2019s be honest about all of this.\u201d
She went on: \u201cThe Strait is closed because the US and Israel started the unprovoked war against Iran based on the same nuclear lies they\u2019ve been telling for decades, that any moment Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.
\u201cYou know who has nuclear weapons? Israel. They are more than capable of defending themselves without the US having to fight their wars, kill innocent people and children, and pay for it. Trump threatening to bomb power plants and bridges hurts the Iranian people, the very people Trump claimed he was freeing.\u201d
After years of loyalty, Greene broke from Trump last June as she criticized<\/a> his strikes on Iran as backtracking on his campaign promise to put \u201cAmerica first\u201d and avoid expensive foreign wars.
\u201cThis [is] NOT what we promised the American people when they overwhelmingly voted in 2024, I know, I was there more than most,\u201d Greene wrote on Sunday. \u201cThis is not making America great again, this is evil.\u201d
Meanwhile, the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer<\/a>, said Trump\u2019s rant resembled that of \u201can unhinged madman\u201d. He wrote<\/a> on X: \u201cHappy Easter, America. As you head off to church and celebrate with friends and family, the President of the United States is ranting like an unhinged madman on social media.
\u201cHe\u2019s threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies. This is who he is, but this is not who we are. Our country deserves so much better.\u201d
Bernie Sanders<\/a>, an independent US senator, called it \u201cdangerous and mentally unbalanced\u201d. He said<\/a> on X: \u201cOne month after starting the war in Iran, this is the statement of the President of the United States on Easter Sunday. These are the ravings of a dangerous and mentally unbalanced individual. Congress has got to act NOW. End this war.\u201d
Senator Chris Murphy also called it completely unhinged. He wrote<\/a> on X: \u201cIf I were in Trump\u2019s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment. This is completely, utterly unhinged. He\u2019s already killed thousands. He\u2019s going to kill thousands more.\u201d
Invoking the 25th amendment would declare the president<\/a> unfit for office<\/a>, allowing the vice-president to become president \u2013 though it seems the chances of that happening appear to be slim<\/a>.
Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative, also said that while Trump was \u201ccursing out and threatening war crimes\u201d, he was \u201cfailing\u201d US troops in Iran who remain under fire even though the president has claimed to have destroyed Iran\u2019s military capabilities. He told NBC\u2019s Meet the Press: \u201cWe need to end this war now. We need an immediate ceasefire. Iran, Israel and the United States need to stop bombing and have a negotiated settlement.\u201d
Tim Kaine, a Democratic senator who serves on the armed services committee, urged Trump to \u201cplease dial back the rhetoric\u201d. Also speaking on NBC\u2019s Meet the Press, Kaine said Trump\u2019s language was \u201cembarrassing and juvenile\u201d and raised the risk for US service members<\/a>.
Indeed, Trump\u2019s threats follow an intense 48-hour rescue operation for two US pilots inside Iran. Trump said in an earlier Sunday post that the second pilot rescued<\/a> was \u201cseriously wounded\u201d and was a \u201chighly respected Colonel\u201d.
\u201cThe rescue was an Easter Miracle,\u201d Trump added in a text message to Meet the Press on Sunday before heading to his Washington DC golf club. \u201cSuch a rescue has never happened before in so violent an enemy territory.\u201d
But despite Trump\u2019s claims that the rescue was a triumph for the US, the two-day drama is a stark reminder that, five weeks into this war, Iran is not defeated and can still fight back<\/a> and inflict costs on the US.
Jake Auchincloss, a Democratic representative and US Marine Corps veteran, told Fox News Sunday: \u201cIran recognizes that, in fact, their control over the strait is even more strategically vital to them than the development of a nuclear weapon.
\u201cStrategically, this war has been a failure,\u201d he added.
Trump\u2019s Easter Sunday threat follows a US military strike on the largest bridge in Iran<\/a> last Thursday that killed at least eight people and injured 95. The B1 bridge between Tehran and Karaj appeared to be hit twice and Trump shared video of the aftermath.
The war has killed more than 3,500 people across the region, including more than 1,200<\/a> people in Lebanon who have been killed in Israel\u2019s bombardment and partial occupation, and displaced<\/a> more than 4 million people<\/a> across Iran and Lebanon.<\/p>\n

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Marjorie Taylor Greene and Bernie Sanders among those responding with alarm to Trump writing \u2018open the fuckin\u2019 strait, you crazy bastards\u2019Some US politicians have reacted with alarm and questioned the US president\u2019s mental state after Donald Trump issued an abusive, expletive-laden threat to Iran in which he called on the regime to \u201copen the fuckin\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":207822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-207821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}