Donald Trump is desperate to escalate the war with Iran as the world watches to see whether the president will follow through on his unhinged threats against the Middle Eastern country, according to a report.
The 79-year-old has given Tehran a seemingly arbitrary deadline of 8 p.m. on Tuesday to reach a deal on the conflict, including reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route, before the U.S. begins destroying Iran’s power plants and bridges.
Speaking to Axios, an unnamed source close to the president suggested Trump is the main driver pushing to intensify the fighting in the war in Iran, rejecting suggestions that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or Secretary of State Marco Rubio is persuading him behind the scenes.
“The president is the most bloodthirsty, like a mad dog,” the source said. “Those guys sound like the doves compared to the president.”
Trump has been widely condemned for his threats to dramatically escalate his deeply unpopular war with Iran by targeting the country’s infrastructure.
This includes his post Tuesday morning warning that “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” and an Easter Sunday Truth Social post in which he told Tehran to “Open the f---in’ Strait, you crazy b-----ds, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Whether Trump will follow through on these threats or simply set a new deadline, as he has already done multiple times during the war, is not even clear to those in the White House.
“Only President Trump and US negotiators have visibility on these sensitive diplomatic conversations – anonymous sources do not. The President’s team continues to engage with the Iranians to see if a deal is possible. If not, the country’s energy sites and bridges will be hit harder than anyone thought possible,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told the Daily Beast.
A senior administration official told Axios that they believe Trump will postpone plans to attack Iran’s power plants and bridges if he “sees a deal is coming together.” A defense official said they were “skeptical” that Trump would change his mind this time.
The 79-year-old has also reportedly been asking his inner circle, “What do you think of Infrastructure Day?” ahead of Tuesday night’s deadline.
Trump has been criticized for dragging the U.S. into a Middle East conflict without any clear justification or plan for how it will end.
While speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump insisted that his threat to ramp up attacks on Iran amounts to a plan to end the war.
“We have a plan because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again,” he said.
“I mean, complete demolition by 12 o’clock, and it’ll happen over a period of four hours. If we wanted to,” he added. “We don’t want that to happen.”
Two sources told Axios that there is already a plan in place for Israel to join the U.S. in launching a massive bombing campaign against Iran if the deadline passes without a deal.
“Trump would take a deal if he got one, but it’s unclear if the Iranians are ready. It will be extremely tense until Tuesday at 8 p.m.,” a U.S. source close to the president said.
