Threats of RETALIATION
2020
2020-05-27 Trump tweeted out that social media silenced Republicans. In that same tweet, Trump threatened to “strongly regulate or close them down” .
2020-11-07 Trump made threats to prosecute over the Biden victory.
2024 January
2024-01-24 Trump withheld aid for California wildfires unless they agreed to two conditions: 1) enact voter ID laws and 2) release waters from a wildlife preserve.
https://abc7.com/post/president-donald-trump-wants-voter-id-laws-condition-aid-california/15833908/
2024 April
2024-04-05 Governor Greg Abbott threatened Texas college students with expulsion for protesting the genocide in Gaza.
2024 September
2024-09-11 Trump accused ABC of rigging the Harris debate and threatened that ABC should lose their license.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/11/trump-harris-debate-rigged-abc-should-lose-license.html
2024 November
2024-11-05 Trump attacked Fox News for airing Oprah.
https://variety.com/2024/politics/news/donald-trump-fox-news-oprah-winfrey-ashamed-1236201464/
2024 December
2024-12-22 Both in a social media post and during a rally in Phoenix, Trump threatened to seize control of the Panama Canal by force. He reiterated the threat in February 2025 warning of a “powerful” U.S. action.
2025 January
2025-01-07 Trump threatened to seize control of Greenland, stating he would be willing to use military force and would take Greenland “one way or the other”. Later in the month he sent Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump Jr. to promote his cause and reiterated the threats in May.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/04/trump-says-the-us-will-take-greenland-one-way-or-the-other.html
2025-01-07 Trump threatened to use “economic force” to annex Canada. Canadian officials reportedly began taking his threats more seriously at this point, moving past the initial belief that the comments were satirical.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113789874318969723
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114756567645919781
2025-01-20 Trump signed executive order 14172 directing federal agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
2025 February
2025-02-03 Judges delayed the White House’s attempt to both freeze $3T (trillion) in federal spending and uncover the identities of FBI agents who worked on the J6 insurrection investigation.
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/03/nx-s1-5285687/trump-federal-spending-freeze
2025 March
2025-03-04 Trump threatened in a social media post to pull funding from any college that allowed protests and called protests “illegal”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/04/trump-university-funding-protests
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/trump-columbia-university-federal-funding/
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114104167452161158
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/us/protests-legal-illegal-constitution-trump
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/04/trump-college-protests-israel-gaza-funding
2025-03-07 Trump signed an executive order to change student loan forgiveness, adding the language, “…end taxpayer-funded student loan forgiveness for anti-American activists”, leaving it open to the Trump administration’s interpretations and agendas.
2025-03-21 After the Trump administration leveraged funding to Columbia University they agreed to the demands of the administration in exchange for funding restoration. Ultimately it didn’t matter, because Trump froze their funds again 3 months later. Andrew Nixon stated, “There is no federal funding for unvetted woke research at Columbia. Any minimal disbursements that presently exist are for specific measures, including to wind down the grant entirely”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/columbia-university-funding-trump-demands
2025-03-25 The Trump administration revoked a Tuft student’s doctoral visa because she co-authored a pro-Palestinian newspaper article the year prior. Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by ICE for six weeks after writing an op-ed at her university. Courts ruled the detention illegal and she was released. The Trump administration’s DHS accused her of supporting Hamas without any evidence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T98wJrupDMA
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/07/detained-tufts-student-rumeysa-ozturk-ruling
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/26/ice-agents-detain-tufts-university-graduate-student
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-student-denied-bond/
2025-03-27 Marco Rubio announced that over 300 student visas were revoked by the State Department as a crackdown on campus activism, particularly pro-Palestinian. He stated, quote, “Every time I find one of these lunatics I take away their visa”.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/27/marco-rubio-student-visas-palestine-00005141
2025 June
2025-06-08 Trump posted on Truth Social that protestors in Los Angeles should be arrested for wearing masks. A double standard, since federal law enforcement agents wear masks.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114650947329138948
2025 July
2025-07-01 Trump released $175M in funding back to University of Pennsylvania only after they agreed to remove transgender Lia Thomas’ records and issue an apology.
2025-07-12 Trump threatened via social media to take away Rosie O’Donnel’s citizenship.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114840552173805537
2025-07-18 Trump posted on Truth Social that he was excited about the firing of Stephen Colbert, and he heard that Jimmy Kimmel was next. In the same tweet Trump promoted Greg Gutfeld.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114874422468516376
2025-07-22 Trump tweeted out again that he heard Jimmy Kimmel would be fired and that he wanted Jimmy Fallon fired next.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114897600777919524
https://www.avclub.com/donald-trump-jimmy-fallon-jimmy-kimmel-fired-next-prediction
2025-07-25 Trump wrote on social media that Oprah should be prosecuted for unfounded claims of paid celebrity endorsement.
https://www.imdb.com/news/ni65401281/
2025-07-27 Trump wrote on social media that Beyonce should be prosecuted for endorsing Kamala Harris.
2025-07-30 Trump signed an executive order implementing an additional 40% tariff on Brazilian products. Several online sources suggested it was a retaliatory measure in response to Bolsonaro’s arrest.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/addressing-threats-to-the-us/
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-tariffs-put-bolsonaro-brazilian-right-bind-2025-07-15/
2025 August
2025-08-05 Trump posted on Truth Social, claiming Washington D.C. was “out of control” and made threats to take federal control of the city after DOGE staffer “Big Balls” Coristine was jumped.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114977985620971126
2025-08-24 After a verbal dispute with Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, Trump said he wanted to “rethink” federal funding for the Francis Scott Key bridge. Following Governor Wes Moore ‘s invitation to show Trump Baltimore’s low crime rates, Trump sent out a message on social media, accusing Moore of fudging his figures.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5467900-trump-criticizes-maryland-governor/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wes-moore-trump-crime-rhetoric-face-the-nation-08-24-2025/
2025-08-25 Trump threatened to pull funding from any state that did not enforce ending cash bail.
2025-08-25 DHS detained Kilmar Abrego Garcia. They gave him an ultimatum: plead guilty and we will deport you to Costa Rica. Don’t plead guilty and we will deport you to Uganda.
2025 September
2025-09-13 American Airlines pilots were grounded fired just for talking negatively about the Charlie Kirk shooting.
https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/1966943501444415920
2025-09-15 After Governor Kathryn Hochul endorsed Mamdani, Trump threatened to hold back federal funding from New York if Mamdani was elected.
https://newrepublic.com/post/200449/donald-trump-kathy-hochul-endorsement-zohran-mamdani
2025-09-15 In retaliation, conservatives worked to ensure that anyone who offended the Charlie Kirk base by not sufficiently mourning was fired. By this date the media already cited employee firings from Office Depot, American Airlines, MSNBC, multiple teachers, NASDAQ, Perkins Coe, members of the secret service, Microsoft, and the Washington Post. Meanwhile, Republicans who had previously celebrated the assault of Nancy Pelosi’s husband, death of the Minnesota senators, killing of George Floyd, or suggested an entire population of homeless people be “euthanized” remain employed to this day.
https://apnews.com/article/dowd-msnbc-kirk-comments-e08f349022c9d69171cd575664141075
https://abovethelaw.com/2025/09/perkins-coie-fires-lawyer-over-this-charlie-kirk-post/
https://x.com/Microsoft/status/1966626714148368766
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/teachers-punishment-social-media-posts-173737509.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/business/media/washington-post-charlie-kirk-karen-attiah.html
2025-09-17 Trump posted on Truth Social that he wanted Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers fired, ending his tweet with “Do it, NBC”.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115222372625104790
2025-09-20 Trump threatened Afghanistan in a social media post, saying “bad things” would happen if the U.S. doesn’t retake Bagram Air Force Base.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115238745589536576
2025-09-20 Trump pressured Pam Bondi to prosecute three of his rivals: James Comey, Letitia James, and Adam Schiff.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115239044548033727
2025-09-20 Trump posted, “We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions, which includes the Worst in the World Insane Asylums, that Venezuelan “Leadership” has forced into the United States of America. Thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these “Monsters.” GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!”
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115237675581682288
2025-09-23 In response to Jimmy Kimmel returning to TV, Trump posted, “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back…I think we’re going to test ABC out on this….Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative”.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115256938634035559
2025-09-26 Former FBI director James Comey was indicted on two charges after Trump publicly pressured Bondi into prosecuting him and two other adversaries.
2025-09-29 Trump posted another threat to New York Governor Hochul via social media to pull funding from New York if Mamdani was elected.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115287641147640374
2025 October
2025-10-02 Trump pulled $8B in clean energy products from Democratic states as a retaliatory measure for the government shutdown standoff.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-clean-energy-hydrogen-hub-newsom-0223cb4469508bcea4f689c18c9ab65d
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115304455138824245
2025-10-08 Florida State Representative Kevin Steele filed a bill that threatens state funding to public universities and colleges if they don’t name some of their roads after Charlie Kirk.
2025-10-09 In response to the government shutdown, the FAA terminated $6.7M in infrastructure grants to the Indianapolis International Airport, stating it did not align with the administration’s priorities.
2025-10-09 During a White House press conference, Trump responded to a reporter question about backpay after the shutdown. He responded, “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about. We’re gonna take care of our people, there are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way”.
2025-10-10 In a retaliatory move to the government shutdown, the Trump administration began firing thousands of employees, withholding backpay, and cutting funds. CNN reported that the administration fired 4000 workers.
2025-10-14 In response to the shutdown, RFK fired over 1000 CDC doctors and scientists.
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/cdc-rfk-jr-shutdown-layoffs-goal-rcna237035
2025-10-18 Multiple sources suggest FEMA had been politicized. The DHS website suggested that the Biden administration withheld aid from Red States, while other sources in 2026 gave examples of the Trump administration not fully reimbursing Blue States; both sides of the aisle claiming discrimination.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWJU2ScjArU/
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/26/politics/disaster-aid-fema-states-trump-shutdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABJwDIUwE3U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r15YTc7imvY
2025-10-19 After the Columbian president accused Trump of killing innocent people during US boat strikes, Trump threatened to end aid.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8xg1jve73o
2025-10-29 Kat Abughazaleh was indicted. She called the charges “yet another attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish those who dare to speak up”.
https://theintercept.com/2025/11/01/briefing-podcast-kat-abughazaleh-indictment-protest/
2025-10-30 Trump posted a threat on social media to use a nuclear option to reopen the government.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115466449868630054
2025 November
2025-11-04 Trump posted on social media that he would not release ANY part of the SNAP funding until the “Radical Left Democrats open up government”, thereby weaponizing hunger of 40 million Americans in a retaliatory move against Democrats.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115492285081397189
2025 December
2025-12-01 Trump announced plans to pardon Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernandez just ahead of current elections. Hernandez was in prison for directing a massive cocaine trafficking operation while holding the presidency from 2014 to 2022. He ran Honduras as a narco state and accepted millions of dollars in bribes. For context, Trump also threatened to cut off aid to Honduras if voters elected one of Hernandez’s rivals. Later Trump threatened there would be “Hell to Pay” if the Honduras presidential election results were changed, insinuating that there may be election tampering.
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2025/12/01/trump-honduras-venezuela
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kpm0rvxepo
https://apnews.com/article/trump-hernandez-honduras-pardon-96ac8d1d44d438f64beb8b24ca54b651
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2dgp8mvmno
2025-12-10 According to Reuters, the Trump administration demanded that the International Criminal Court amend its founding documents – the Rome Statute – to ensure that Trump and his senior officials would not be investigated or prosecuted for any war crimes, and threatened sanctions if the ICC didn’t comply.
2025-12-11 After Indiana refused to redistrict ahead of mid-term elections the Heritage Foundation made threats about withholding funding via X. For context ONLY, the definition for extortion is “the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats”.
https://x.com/Heritage_Action/status/1999141506473509071
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/12/indiana-voting-map-republicans-trump
2025-12-25 Trump posted over 100 times during Christmas, including posts calling to remove licenses from any news station that negatively reported about his presidency.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-broadcast-licenses-terminated-100-negative/
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115772922954148853
2025-12-30 Trump vetoed a bill to fund a pipeline project intended to bring clean drinking water to communities on the Easter Plans of Colorado in retaliation for keeping Tina Peters in prison on her election system tampering conviction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Peters_(politician)
https://electionfraud.heritage.org/case/201683
2026 January
2026-01-12 After a 13-minute interview with CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil, leaked audio of Karoline Leavitt recorded her saying to CBS news after an interview, “He said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full.’ He said if it’s not out in full we’ll sue your ass off”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYqrbZt6FM&list=WL&index=1
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/18/white-house-press-secretary-cbs-trump-interview
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/business/media/cbs-news-trump-interview.html
2026-01-13 In an X post, Trump tied his immigration crackdown in Minnesota to losing the elections, and Trump accused Minnesota of swinging elections.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115889954671261109
2026-01-16 Trump threatened countries with tariffs if they didn’t back the US controlling Greenland.
2026-01-16 The DOJ under Trump accused Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey of fraud and conspiracy to impede immigration agents.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/doj-opens-criminal-probe-targeting-minnesota/
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/06/timeline-of-fraud-investigations-that-shaped-walz-tenure
2026-01-19 Trump sent a message to the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store demanding the Nobel Prize, blamed Norway for not giving him the prize, then insisted in the same message he needed “Complete and Total Control of Greenland”. He also added in the message, “I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy7mev35x2lo
2026-01-21 In a public notice, he FCC threatened to pull ABC’s license again in an effort to silence both Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert from making political commentary that doesn’t align with the Trump agenda.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jimmy-kimmel-fcc-threat-response_n_6971dbbbe4b0e15d54cbe2e9
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-68A1.pdf
2026-01-22 Just as predicted by Jack Smith himself, Trump posted threats about Smith via Truth Social. For context, Jack Smith was the prosecutor in the case against Trump for election tampering and concealing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. While the case had indisputable evidence to convict Trump, the case was suspiciously thrown out.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115939889414201547
2026-01-23 Just one hour after agents executed Alex Pretti, Pam Bondi sent a letter to Tim Walz stating the Trump administration would remove ICE from the State if Minnesota met demands to hand over voter files, SNAP data, and repealed its sanctuary policy.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/26/nx-s1-5688964/minnesota-data-bondi-letter
https://people.com/pam-bondi-full-letter-tim-walz-after-alex-pretti-shooting-11892085
2026 February
2026-02-22 Trump threatened Netflix, telling them to fire board member Susan Rice. He told Netflix they would “pay the consequences” if they didn’t “immediately” fire the former UN ambassador under the Obama administration. This threat came after Netflix tried to acquire Warner Brother Discovery but was outbid by Paramount.
https://www.axios.com/2026/02/23/trump-netflix-susan-rice
https://theweek.com/business/trump-netflix-susan-rice-state-run-capitalism
2026-02-27 The Pentagon gave Anthropic a deadline to agree to the Pentagon’s terms for widespread domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, saying if Anthropic didn’t agree to all those terms then they would label the company as a “supply chain risk” as an ultimatum. The CEO of Anthropic stated they could not – in good conscience – agree to the terms the Pentagon was asking for.
https://www.axios.com/2026/02/26/anthropic-pentagon-ultamatim-congress-deadline
2026 March
2026-03-06 Following Anthropic’s ethical refusal to allow their AI to hold unchecked power over weapons systems, the Trump administration followed through on a retaliatory threat to designate the company a supply chain risk. On March 25th 2026 Anthropic sued the Pentagon for the stigmatizing AI supply-chain risk label.
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/g-s1-112713/pentagon-labels-ai-company-anthropic-a-supply-chain-risk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ISY16GtwLI&list=WL&index=8
2026-03-06 In a social media post, Trump demanded “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” from Iran.
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-06-26
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/06/trump-iran-war-unconditional-surrender
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116182551337254643
2026-03-08 Trump threatened via Truth Social to withhold his signature on all bills until Congress passed the SAVE act.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116193527873859174
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5776058-trump-republicans-save-america-act-midterms/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/09/trump-threat-congress-save-america-act
2026-03-14 Pete Hegseth chastised the media for reporting truths about the war in Iran. He ranted about reading a headline “Mideast War Intensifies” and offered his own edit “Iran Increasingly Desperate”. One article quoted Hegseth as saying, “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better” in reference to CNN.
https://newrepublic.com/article/207760/pete-hegseth-iran-war-patriotic-media-coverage
https://x.com/atrupar/status/2032430133353591082
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/politics/hormuz-trump-administration-underestimated-iran
https://newrepublic.com/article/207760/pete-hegseth-iran-war-patriotic-media-coverage
2026-03-14 FCC’s Brendan Carr also threatened the media for reporting on the war in Iran. He wrote on X, “Broadcasters are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not. And frankly, changing course is in their own business interests since trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters. The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves. It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news. When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong. It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen. Time for change!”
https://x.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/2032855414233047172
https://www.cato.org/blog/fcc-threats-fog-war-government-cannot-be-arbiter-truth
https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/five-questions-why-fcc-chair-carrs-license-threats-are-empty/
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5786490-fcc-chair-threatens-broadcasters/
2026-03-16 Cuba faced an energy crisis and blackouts due to the U.S. blocking energy shipments. Trump said, “I do believe I’ll have the honor of taking Cuba”. He also stated, “I can do anything I want”. Trump also threatened to continue blocking energy shipments in Cuba unless Miguel Diaz Canal stepped down.
https://nypost.com/2026/03/16/us-news/trump-believes-hell-be-taking-cuba-in-the-future/
https://www.ndtv.com/video/i-do-believe-i-ll-have-the-honor-of-taking-cuba-donald-trump-1072855
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/world/americas/trump-cuba-president-diaz-canel.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNoioT7VP98&list=WL&index=11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk6P-bKiGyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIkrpjKnspw
2026-03-21 Trump threatened to send ICE agents to airports starting Monday March 23rd if Democrats didn’t agree to fund DHS ICE agents. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “…ICE agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia…”. The Washington Post in their article wrote, “Border czar Tom Homan said ICE agents will be at airports to help TSA agents…”.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116267892671497457
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObltrGAQQS8&list=WL&index=8
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/airport-delays-dhs-funding/
2026-03-23 During a War Room podcast, Steve Bannon said having ICE at airports was a “perfect test-run” for the midterms”, meaning, to have ICE agents present at polling places. An article quoted him as saying, “We can use this as a test run, as a test case, to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterms”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-8SGdG5AVY
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aeeULQ384v4
2026-03-26 Trump posted on social media he planned to sign an emergency Executive Order to get TSA agents paid during the second government shutdown. This came after Democrats made multiple attempts to pass a bill asking for the same thing and Trump initially responded by sending ICE agents to the airports where they did not offer help and instead stood around playing on their phones. Keeping in mind, ICE agents not wearing masks or body cameras was why we had the shutdown in the first place, and the GOP refused to allow those guardrails while they continued to fund agents during the shutdown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETT5qkzk9Lo&list=WL&index=10
https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-hell-sign-order-directing-dhs-pay-tsa/story?id=131441186
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-order-tsa-pay-as-dhs-shutdown-drags-on/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/26/trump-tsa-shutdown-dhs.html
2026-03-26 In the case of Anthropic refusing to allow unchecked use of their AI tools for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, District Court Judge Rita Lin wrote, “Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFkuH7GRX8&list=WL&index=1&t=388s
2026-03-30 Trump publicly threatened to bomb desalination plants, electric plants and oil wells in Iran. Bombing civilian power and infrastructure is a war crime. When pressed about this during a press brief, Karoline Leavitt said, “Um, look – the president has made it quite clear to the Iranian regime at this moment in time as evidenced by the statement that you just read, that their best move is to make a deal – or else the United States armed forces has capabilities beyond their wildest imagination and the president is not afraid to use them…” at which point the journalist reiterated ‘war crime’ concerns. Karoline Leavitt continued, “That’s not what I said, Garrett, and you’re saying the word potential for a reason, ‘cuz I’m sure some experts are telling you that in your ear to try to ask me that question. Of course, this administration and the United States armed forces will always act within the confines of the law, but with respect to achieving the full objectives of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump is going to move forward unabated, and he expected – expects – the Iranian regime to make a deal with the administration”.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/leavitt-melts-down-after-being-quizzed-on-trump-war-crimes/
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/30/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7147083
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-war-trump-threatens-to-blow-up-desalination-plants/live-76586932