THE NEW YORK TIMES: President Trump presented details of a daring rescue of an American airman in cinematic terms. Mr. Trump and Iran sent mixed messages about escalating the war and diplomacy to end it ahead of his Tuesday deadline.
President Trump on Monday escalated his threats to devastate Iran if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even as he again floated the possibility that diplomacy may yet avert steps to prolong and deepen the war.
“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,” Mr. Trump said at a White House news conference. If the attacks take place, he added, “It will take them 100 years to rebuild.”
Mr. Trump gave a laudatory depiction of the rescue of a missing American airman shot down over Iran. The mission involved 155 aircraft and hundreds of people, he said, though “a lot of it was subterfuge” designed to lead Iranian forces away from the aviator. He also revealed that the plane, a U.S. Air Force F-15E, had been downed by a single shoulder-fired missile.
At an earlier White House appearance, Mr. Trump added to the conflicting signals that have characterized the conflict, now in its second month, by saying that he wanted the United States to take Iran’s oil and profit from it. That would imply a long-term and risky U.S. presence in the region, but “unfortunately the American people would like to see us come home.”
His remarks to reporters came after Iran made a new 10-point peace proposal, and after Mr. Trump renewed his threat to bomb Iranian civilian infrastructure if Tehran does not allow shipping to pass freely through the critical strait, a conduit for a significant portion of the world’s crude oil and natural gas.
“It’s a significant proposal,” Mr. Trump said of the Iranian proposal, which was made through Pakistani mediators. “It’s a significant step. It’s not good enough. But it’s a very significant step.”
Later he said, “I can tell you that we have an active, willing participant on the other side. They would like to make a deal.”
The full contents of the Iranian plan were not made public, but diplomatic efforts have yielded little so far, despite Mr. Trump’s repeated claims of progress, with each side making demands that the other has dismissed as unacceptable. Iranian and U.S. officials have communicated mostly through intermediaries, like Pakistan.
“If it were up to me, I’d take the oil,” Mr. Trump said of Iran. “I’d keep the oil and we’d make plenty of money. And I would also take care of the people of Iran much better than they’ve been taken care of. It’s been horrible.” Iran War Live Updates » | Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Erika Solomon and Richard Pérez-Peña | Monday, April 6, 2026
Watch and listen to the NYT video of Trump rambling here.
If this criminal goes ahead with his plan to destroy Iran, will Americans EVER be able to get over their SHAME and their country’s SHAMEFUL and BARBARIC behaviour? After all, it was IRRESPONSIBLE Americans who put this DISGUSTING MAN into office. — © Mark Alexander
