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by MARK POWELL
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Americans, Christians and Jews alike, are used to reading banal religious greetings from their president during the Holy Season each spring. But the words from President Donald Trump that greeted them when they woke up Sunday morning were anything but banal.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump expounded on his threat regarding the Strait – one of several critical energy chokepoints in the region.
“If they don’t come through, if they want to keep it closed, they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country,” he told the paper. “If they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants and they won’t have any bridges standing.”
“Happy Easter, America,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X. “As you head off to church and celebrate with friends and family, the President of the United States is ranting like an unhinged madman on social media. He’s threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies. This is who he is, but this is not who we are. Our country deserves so much better.”
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In the Republican camp, reaction was divided. One aghast Palmetto State Republican shared with us, “I thought this was a joke when I first saw it. Does he not know this is not what conservatives want to hear on Easter Sunday?”
Yet another self-identified MAGA supporter in South Carolina saw it differently.
“Not exactly presidential, as we grew up knowing it, but this level of Trump profanity cracks me up,” the Trump ally noted. “Such an unusual character, but so American somehow, a kind of mix of Andy Jackson and Dirty Harry, hopped up on Diet Coke. The chef’s kiss is ‘Praise to Allah’!”
While reaction to Sunday’s message focused on its vulgarity, it provided a distraction from the one that came on Saturday, and which contained a glaring typo.
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote. “Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”
As Democrats gleefully pointed out, “reign” should have been “rain.”
“Don’t they know how to use spellcheck at the Mar-a-Lago?” one Democratic strategist laughed.
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RELATED | BRING THE TROOPS BACK!
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But nobody is laughing at Trump’s apparently darkening mood. It soured last week when, just hours after his Wednesday evening address to the nation, Iran dramatically upped the ante. In his remarks, Trump repeated his threat to bomb Iran’s infrastructure — its bridges, power stations, and even oilfields — adding, “and there’s not a thing they could do about it.”
“They have no anti-aircraft equipment,” Trump insisted. “Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.”
Then, less than 36 hours later, an American F-15E Strike Eagle fighter was shot down over central Iran. A short time later, two U.S. military helicopters were hit by Iranian fire and damaged while searching for the downed fighter’s crew.
The pilot of the F-15E was rescued almost immediately, but its weapons operator remained missing. Teams on both sides immediately began looking for him. Iran offered a cash bounty (as much as $66,000, according to some reports) to anyone who could capture the “enemy pilot” alive.
The propaganda value to the Islamist regime would have been immense.
However, Trump posted on Truth Social early Sunday morning, “WE GOT HIM!”
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A moment to be proud of. ??
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 5, 2026
GOD BLESS AMERICA. GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS. pic.twitter.com/nZaHsEd6J2
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“Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring search and rescue operations in US history,” Trump added. “I am thrilled to let you know [our missing airman] is now SAFE and SOUND!”
That should have been the dominant story for the next 24-hour news cycle. Keywords “should have been.” Because Trump’s profanity-laced, chest pounding post that followed instantly pushed the dramatic rescue mission to the news back burner.
Trump is making it abundantly clear he isn’t fooling around with his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passageway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman which handles a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and 20 percent of its oil.
Of course, by shooting down an American fighter jet and damaging two helicopters – Iran made clear it isn’t fooling around, either.
As late as midday Sunday, Trump was insisting U.S. delegates were engaged in “deep negotiations” with the Iranians in an eleventh hour attempt to stave off more American attacks.
“There is a good chance (for an agreement),” Trump told Axios on Sunday. “But if they don’t make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there.”
And so, the eyes of the world remained fixed on the clock as it ticks ever closer to 8:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. What happens then?
As Trump himself would say, “stay tuned.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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9 comments
“Trump is making it abundantly clear he isn’t fooling around with his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz,”
Really? Did you miss him saying just the other day that he might end the war without doing anything with the Strait, or “Straight” as he called it in another previous unhinged post?
Next will be an early morning post proclaiming the war that’s not a war but is a war is almost wrapped up in order to prop up the stock market.
Indeed our president’s negotiating style is unique. He applies pressure to shape what is occuring. If at first he doesn’t succeed he tries something else.
He’s a business man and marketing is part of that game. He markets the end to buy time to continue prosecuting the action against Iran.
I’ve waited for this since 1979 to flatten Iran. I don’t care if gas goes to ten bucks a gallon and Congress continues to fill their diapers.
Trump is crazy like a fox.
“If at first he doesn’t succeed he tries something else.”
That’s one way to put it. Another way is to say Donnie is out of his element and grasping at straws.
I think the fact that Bolton came out and said he already told Trump what was likely to come in such a conflict is enough to say which characterization of his actions is closer to the truth. The daycare workers aren’t in this administration. The guard rails are off. He’s surrounded by loyalists, yes men, and compromised people who will not stand up to him.
“I’ve waited for this since 1979 to flatten Iran. I don’t care if gas goes to ten bucks a gallon and Congress continues to fill their diapers.”
Absolutely unhinged, psychotic world view to us normies. Average run of the mill MAGA death cult brain fart. In reality MAGA is the unfiltered, undiluted id of the Republican party.
Donald Trump is a businessman who has bankrupted almost every business he has been involved in, which is what he is doing to our country right now.
Right you are, Frank!
Based on recent reports, Donald Trump is the only U.S. president documented using the phrase “Praise be to Allah,” which he wrote in an April 2026 Truth Social post threatening Iran.
Its called sarcasm… it’s like a little old southern lady saying, “bless your heart”. What she really means is “fuck you”.
Whatever it takes to continue to justify voting for Epstein’s best buddy.
While the MAGA Republicans laughed, many others of us were deeply saddened by those posts.