US President Donald Trump ignited a wave of alarm and scrutiny over his mental state after issuing an abusive, expletive-laden threat to Iran on his Truth Social platform. In his post, Trump demanded that Iran “open the fuckin’ strait [of Hormuz], you crazy bastards,” and explicitly threatened to attack the country’s energy and transport infrastructure, declaring, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. 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. President DONALD J. TRUMP.” This comes as the Trump administration approached another self-imposed deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping lane for oil and gas, which has been effectively shut since the US and Israel launched war on Iran at the end of February, causing oil prices worldwide to skyrocket.

Trump’s frustration has also been directed at European and NATO allies who have rejected the legality of the US-Israeli war on Iran and refused to intervene in the Strait of Hormuz crisis, leading him to threaten a US withdrawal from NATO. Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president’s office, stated that Iran would only reopen the strait after receiving compensation for war damages, paid through a “new legal regime” based on transit fees. Tabatabaei described Trump’s threats against Iran’s civil infrastructure as a resort to “obscenities and nonsense out of sheer desperation and anger.”

The president’s remarks have drawn sharp criticism from US politicians across the spectrum. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former staunch ally turned Trump critic, called on everyone in the Trump administration who claims to be Christian to “beg forgiveness from God” and intervene in the president’s “madness.” In a lengthy post on X, Greene asserted that Trump has “gone insane” and that his allies are “complicit.” She argued that the Strait is closed because the US and Israel initiated an “unprovoked war against Iran based on the same nuclear lies they’ve been telling for decades,” noting that Israel, with its nuclear weapons, is capable of defending itself without US intervention. Greene condemned Trump’s threats to bomb power plants and bridges, saying it hurts the Iranian people and is “not making America great again, this is evil,” breaking from Trump after years of loyalty over his previous strikes on Iran.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer likened Trump’s rant to that of “an unhinged madman,” tweeting that the president was “threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies.” Independent US Senator Bernie Sanders labeled the statement “dangerous and mentally unbalanced,” urging Congress to “act NOW” to end the war. Senator Chris Murphy echoed these sentiments, suggesting that if he were in Trump’s Cabinet, he would consult constitutional lawyers about invoking the 25th Amendment, which would declare the president unfit for office. Democratic Representative Ro Khanna highlighted that while Trump “cursing out and threatening war crimes,” he is “failing” US troops in Iran and called for an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated settlement. Senator Tim Kaine, serving on the armed services committee, urged Trump to “please dial back the rhetoric,” calling his language “embarrassing and juvenile” and noting the increased risk for US service members, especially following a recent intense 48-hour rescue operation for two US pilots inside Iran.

This escalation follows a US military strike on the largest bridge in Iran last Thursday, the B1 bridge between Tehran and Karaj, which reportedly killed at least eight people and injured 95. The war has resulted in over 3,500 deaths across the region, including more than 1,200 in Lebanon due to Israel’s bombardment and partial occupation, and has displaced over 4 million people across Iran and Lebanon. Democratic Representative Jake Auchincloss, a US Marine Corps veteran, commented that Iran recognizes its control over the strait as “even more strategically vital to them than the development of a nuclear weapon,” concluding that “Strategically, this war has been a failure.”