White House response makes Trump's genocidal threat even more terrifying: analyst

Donald Trump's early morning threat to wipe out an entire civilization was terrifying — but the White House's response was even more so, Mother Jones columnist Noah Lanard wrote.

Lanard made several calls to Trump's representatives Tuesday, shortly after the president warned on Truth Social, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," continuing with "I don't want that to happen, but it probably will."

"We asked the White House if Trump was considering nuking Iran," he wrote. "Its response was chilling."

Trump's statements came ahead of an 8 p.m. eastern time Tuesday deadline he imposed on Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz. The threats sparked concern among multiple observers, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Anthony Scaramucci, the ex-White House communications director turned Trump critic, who warned of a potential nuclear strike if conventional methods failed.

Lanard's direct question wasn't met with denial by the White House press office. Instead, it declined to rule out nuclear options. At 11:19 a.m. eastern time, an unnamed official responded, "We refer you to the President's TRUTH on this inquiry."

In a follow-up request, the journalist noted the ambiguity of the Truth Social post and indicated the article would state that the White House declined to comment on whether Trump was considering a nuclear attack, instead directing to a post threatening civilization's destruction.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded at 11:45 a.m. with a statement: "The Iranian regime has until 8PM Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States. Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do."

The White House rapid response team had offered a different tone in an earlier message criticizing a Democratic account that claimed Vice President JD Vance had refused to rule out nuclear attack. "Literally nothing [Vance] said here 'implies' this, you absolute buffoons," the team wrote.

Trump's Tuesday threat was an escalation of an Easter Sunday Trump post that read, "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one" before adding "Open the F---in' Strait, you crazy b-----ds, or you'll be living in Hell."

On Monday, Trump stated about Iran, "The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night."

Some of Trump's prominent supporters now question his fitness for office. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones warned he should be removed by his cabinet. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene responded to Trump's latest threat with "25TH AMENDMENT!!!" and added, "We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness."