Top Stories Daily Listen Now
RawStory

World

Trump facing his own deadline on Iran as anxious Republicans fall out of 'lockstep'

Donald Trump's apocalyptic threat — "A whole civilization will die tonight" — if Iran doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz is facing a different kind of pressure: his own party is running out of patience and preparing to invoke constitutional limits on his war powers.

According to The Hill, GOP lawmakers are increasingly restless as the conflict drags on, and Trump faces a critical 6-day window before Congress could force a showdown vote on war powers authority.

The political ground is shifting beneath Trump's feet. The Iran operation is unfolding at a precarious moment for Republicans, as the midterm election season intensifies and segments of the MAGA base grow increasingly angry over perceived abandonment of the "America First" agenda. Trump promised this would last four to five weeks. Instead, he has escalated tensions, threatened strikes on Iran's infrastructure, and hasn't ruled out U.S. ground troops — moves that risk entrenching America in a prolonged conflict.

GOP lawmakers are now falling out of "lockstep" with Trump and are now drawing a line in the sand: 60 days.

"Constitutional limits are in place to temper the president from unilateral authority. I support the president's actions taken in defense of American lives and interests. However, I will not support ongoing military action beyond a 60-day window without congressional approval," Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) wrote in an op-ed on April 1.

Curtis invoked the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which "limits the president's period of time to respond to 'emerging threats.'" A 60-day window, he argued, "is a fully sufficient window for presidents to take emergency measures in response to a national threat and then remit a decision to the duly elected representatives of the people as to whether a state of war should in fact be declared and continued."

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) signaled he'd consider voting on a war powers resolution if the conflict extends beyond 60 days. "I do think Iran has been a threat for 47 years, and they've killed roughly a thousand Americans. But I'd consider the resolution," Bacon told The Hill. He added that he hopes the conflict ends quickly, but "the enemy has a vote."

Public opinion is overwhelmingly against continuation. In a CNN poll released last week, 66 percent of respondents said they either "somewhat disapprove" or "strongly disapprove" of the U.S. military action in Iran.

Frustration is mounting across the GOP conference. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has already declared she won't support Trump's requested $200 billion supplemental funding package for the Pentagon.

"I've already told leadership, 'I am a no on any war supplementals,'" Boebert told CNN's Manu Raju. "I am so tired of spending money elsewhere. I am tired of the industrial war complex getting all of our hard-earned tax dollars. I have folks in Colorado who can't afford to live."

JD Vance doubles down on ending civilization in Iran: 'The president set a deadline'

U.S. Vice President JD Vance doubled down on President Donald Trump's threat to end Iran's civilization in one night, with the hint that nuclear weapons could be used.

"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," Trump wrote on Tuesday on Truth Social.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump and Hegseth's religious fervor is 'playing into Iran's hands': experts

According to two former diplomats, the injection of religious fervor by Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth into the Iran war is a gift to the mullahs of the embattled country that will only make things worse.

On MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” contributor Sam Stein noted that Hegseth made a strained comparison between a downed US airman emerging from a cave to be saved and Jesus over the Easter weekend, which has the effect of making the US attacks less about Middle Eastern geopolitics and more like a Christian crusade.

Keep reading... Show less

US launches attack on Iran's Kharg island as Trump's deadline looms: US official

The U.S. military has launched an attack on Iran’s Kharg island, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid on Tuesday, citing an unnamed “senior U.S. official.”

Kharg island is a major oil hub for Iran, and was attacked by the United States in mid-March with a “large-scale precision strike” that intentionally preserved the island’s oil infrastructure.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump is 'bloodthirsty, like a mad dog' about Iran escalation: insider

Donald Trump is champing at the bit to launch devastating strikes on Iran's critical infrastructure, making dark jokes about the attack to his inner circle even as mediators desperately work to broker a last-minute deal before his 8 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline.

According to reporting from Axios's Barak Ravid and Marc Caputo, Trump is the most hawkish person in his entire administration — far more aggressive than Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who are being unfairly blamed for pushing escalation.

"The president is the most bloodthirsty, like a mad dog," one Trump insider told Axios, downplaying narratives that other cabinet members are the real warmongers. "Those guys sound like the doves compared to the president."

Trump has begun testing advisers and confidants on his plan to strike power plants and bridges by using coded language: "What do you think of Infrastructure Day?"

A senior administration official acknowledged the brutal reality of the situation: "If the president sees a deal is coming together, he'll probably hold off. But only he and he alone makes that decision." A defense official said they were "skeptical" there would be any extension this time around.

Trump's negotiating team is pushing for a deal. Vice President JD Vance, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner believe Trump should pursue a ceasefire agreement if possible. But they're being outflanked by international pressure in the opposite direction.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Arabia's leadership, the UAE, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are all urging Trump to reject a ceasefire unless Iran makes seemingly impossible concessions: reopening the Strait of Hormuz and relinquishing highly enriched uranium.

Trump's advisers told mediators the president would need positive signals from Iran to consider extending the deadline. "We're knee-deep in negotiations, anything can happen," one said.

But time is running out. "It will be extremely tense until Tuesday at 8pm," a U.S. source close to Trump said, underscoring the stakes of what could be a catastrophic escalation.

Trump plunging US toward 'disaster for decades to come' with latest threat: GOP lawmaker

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) suggested that President Donald Trump's decisions in the Iran war would have lasting repercussions for the United States.

Bacon, a retired Air Force general, told CNN anchor Jake Tapper that he had spoken with members of the Trump administration about the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East, and that he had expressed his concerns after the president had floated the idea of leaving NATO and called it a "paper tiger" during his press conference on Monday in Washington, D.C.

Keep reading... Show less

'He is so jealous': Trump brutally mocked for repeating false claim about Osama Bin Laden

The internet erupted on Monday after President Donald Trump tried to take credit for a military operation that killed the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks on the United States — which Trump did not actually lead.

Trump was speaking about the Iran war during a high-stakes press conference at the White House when he made the claim that he was behind the death of Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda.

Keep reading... Show less

Nobel winner warns Trump planning 'truly awful' act — and demands his immediate removal

A Nobel Prize-winner has called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked against Donald Trump following a series of failures.

Paul Krugman suggested Trump knows the war in Iran is now a lost cause, but that the president would not pull out of the conflict. Speaking in a post published to his Substack, Krugman suggested the only way out may be to invoke the 25th Amendment. That would force Trump from office and pass presidential powers and duties to Vice President JD Vance.

Keep reading... Show less

'Total cuckoo town': Even Alex Jones now fears 'nightmare that Trump has become'

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones warned that President Donald Trump might use nuclear weapons on Iran because he is a "dementia risk."

"Hands down, in my 32 years on air, nothing has ever even come close to how much danger we're in and the insanity of what's unfolding and the nightmare that Trump has become," Jones asserted on Monday after Trump suggested he could destroy all of Iran in a single night. "Madness of King George the Third, 25th Amendment, whatever you want to call it. If you look at the foreign control of Israel, if you look at him changing stories every time."

Keep reading... Show less

Trump Truth Store abruptly shutters as demand hits floor: 'It all started with the war'

The Trump Truth Store in the Chicago suburbs had to close temporarily as sales plummeted during the widely unpopular Iran war, The Chicago Tribune reported.

The MAGA-themed business based on President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform in Crystal Lake abruptly closed, according to The Tribune.

Keep reading... Show less

'He's going to drop a nuke': Fear as Trump threat leaves details vague

President Donald Trump issued a serious threat for Iran on Monday, prompting shocked reactions online.

Trump was speaking during a White House press conference when he made the unsettling comment referring to the ongoing conflict.

Keep reading... Show less

'Keep that a secret': General jumps in to stop Trump blurting out classified intel

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine was forced to step in to prevent President Donald Trump from disclosing classified war plans.

During a press conference about the rescue of two U.S. airmen in Iran on Monday, Trump was asked if all of his military advisers had agreed about the mission.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump under pressure from key ally to abandon pursuit of ceasefire: insider

President Donald Trump was “pressed” during a phone call Sunday by the leader of a major U.S. ally to not pursue a ceasefire with Iran, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing an unnamed source.

“[Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed President Trump in a phone call yesterday not to pursue a ceasefire at this stage and expressed concern over the risks involved in such a move, an Israeli source said,” Ravid said on Monday in a social media post on X, according to an automatic translation of the original post’s Hebrew text.

Keep reading... Show less