President Donald Trump’s escalating threats to effectively destroy Iran set off alarm Tuesday, with one foreign-policy analyst warning that the president appeared to be signaling that nuclear weapons were “on the table now.”
Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States was striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for what he called Iran’s failed attempt to add sea mines to the waterway and its launch of eight missiles toward a U.S. military base in Jordan.
Trump went even further in a later phone call with Fox News, where he warned that Iran would be hit “much harder” if it retaliated - and even “wiped out as a country” if the conflict continued.
The escalated rhetoric sparked swift fury online, with critics accusing Trump of going too far by threatening the destruction of an entire country.
“WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!” sanctions expert Brett Erickson wrote Tuesday on X. “Throughout this entire war, I have been incredibly skeptical of any claims that President Trump is so much as DISCUSSING the use of nuclear weapons. “This reads to me clear as day that they are on the table now.
“Disgusting,” he added.
Liberal political commentator Vince Wilson pointed his blame at Capitol Hill.
“These spineless Republicans in Congress are enabling this,” he posted.
Economist and policy researcher Sky Marchini saw the message as “Trump’s Final Warning,” while another critic, Geoff Wolf, asked: “So who in Trump’s orbit profited on this one today?”
Freelance journalist Manny Otiko had his own take: “Trump threatens to wipe out an entire country, and he calls them crazy?”
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
President Trump just minutes ago posted to Truth Social that the United States is set to respond to any Iranian retaliation (that is already underway).
Most concerningly, Trump seems to very clearly imply the potential use of NUCLEAR WEAPONS by… pic.twitter.com/sCAZtrqG28
— Brett Erickson (@BrettErickson28) September 1, 2026