Following President Trump’s strong warning to Iranian leaders Sunday, Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) reprimanded President Trump in a tweet Monday by saying most of the American population thinks he has lost his mind.
“In the meantime, all you’re doing is scaring the sh** out your own people (Americans), many of whom believe you’ve lost your mind and may follow through with a war or that you’ve lost your mind and the @VP needs to invoke the 25th Amendment,” Castro wrote.
President Trump’s initial tweet, which was written Sunday, warned Iranian leaders to cease threatening the United States or face the consequences.
“To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE,” the president wrote in all caps.
“WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!”
According to Reuters, Iran has been experiencing mounting pressure from the U.S. in the form of sanctions after the decision made by President Trump in May to exit the 2015 agreement with Iran involving its nuclear program.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at the president Monday, tweeting in all caps, “COLOR US UNIMPRESSED.”
“The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them — albeit more civilized ones — for 40 yrs,” he said.
“We’ve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!”
Rep. Castro continued his comments Monday by telling President Trump that his tactics will not clear him in the Russia investigation.
“Mr. President, starting a war — or even just a war of words — with Iran won’t save you from Bob Mueller. Besides, you basically made the same threat to KJU before your Singapore meeting and North Korea’s nuclear program is stronger than ever,” he concluded.
However, National Security Advisor John Bolton echoed the president’s tough rhetoric in a statement Monday.
“President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before,” Bolton said.
Critics argue that it would be a bad idea to ignore the president’s initial tweets, commenting that “It’s important not to dismiss this as empty Trump rhetoric.”
“War with Iran is an idea that has a lot of support among conservatives and members of Trump’s cabinet. Both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton publicly called for airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities prior to joining the Trump administration,” writes Zack Beauchamp.
“What this means is that, as scary as it sounds, we have to take the possibility of war with Iran seriously. We need to understand just what such a war would entail and what the consequences would be if it happened.”
“The best estimates we have suggest it would be a disaster,” he concluded.
However, during his weekly cabinet meeting Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also praised the president’s statements regarding Iran.
“I would like to praise the strong stance expressed yesterday by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo against the Iranian regime’s aggression,” he said.
“For years, this regime was pampered by world powers and it’s good to see that the United States is changing this unacceptable equation.”