President Donald Trump unleashed a fresh barrage of threats on Iran after negotiations collapsed, flooding social media with repeated warnings of devastating consequences for the country’s people.
“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” the 79-year-old president posted on Truth Social on Sunday, in a message he reposted three times on his account, explaining that Iran did not agree to U.S. demands that it not pursue a nuclear weapon.
The president went on to say the U.S. would blockade “any and all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz,” a key maritime passage through which roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments flow, which has been effectively closed since Trump launched the unauthorized war with Iran on Feb. 28 amid reports of Iranian mine-laying in the waterway.
“THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION, and Leaders of Countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted,” the post continued.
The president’s post comes after talks with Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, led by Vice President JD Vance, failed to reach an agreement on Saturday following 21 hours of negotiations.
“I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” Vance told reporters after the talks, without disclosing what U.S. terms the Iranians had rejected.
As talks ended without a deal, Trump was ringside at a UFC fight in Miami, joined by his family and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, smiling for the cameras as the fight went on.
Prior to his trip to Florida, Trump told reporters that “whether we make a deal or not makes no difference” to him.
However, Sunday’s post suggested that, following the collapse of talks, the president is willing to involve the U.S. Navy and other military forces and bring “other countries” into a proposed “blockade” of the Strait of Hormuz.
Top NATO allies have previously rejected the president’s calls for help in the region, and it is unclear which “other countries” the president referred to in his post.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment, but has received no immediate response.
“The Blockade will begin shortly,” Trump declared in the post, adding that “Iran will not be allowed to profit off this Illegal Act of EXTORTION.”
The proposed blockade comes a day after the president’s declaration that the U.S. was “clearing out” the Strait “as a favor to Countries all over the World,” which was confirmed by U.S. Central Command.
Since the start of the blockade, average U.S. gas prices spiked more in March than in any other month since 1967.
On Tuesday, the president threatened that “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran did not reopen the Strait — a threat that did not materialize as the countries agreed to a ceasefire for negotiations that ultimately failed on Saturday.
