Last weekend, on Easter Sunday, President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!”
On Tuesday, he posted again: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
Hours later—after ongoing talks, and condemnation by world leaders and American lawmakers from both parties—the United States agreed to a two-week cease-fire with Iran. 
The Atlantic’s Adam Harris talks to the staff writers Tom Nichols and Nancy Youssef about where the two countries can go from here and what happens when genocidal threats become political policy.
Further reading: “Did Trump Just Threaten to Use Nuclear Weapons in Iran?” (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/trump-truthsocial-destruction-iran/686716/) by Tom Nichols
“Trump Made a Deal That Gives Him Nothing He Wanted” (https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2026/04/iran-strait-hormuz-us-trump-nuclear-weapons/686726/) by Nancy A. Youssef
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