Leavitt says Trump’s threat to destroy Iran was not a bluff after ceasefire

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization was not a bluff during Wednesday’s press briefing.

A two-week ceasefire agreement was reached between the Iranian government and the United States and its allies on Tuesday, just before the 8 p.m. deadline Trump previously set in a Truth Social post.

“It was a very, very strong threat from the president of the United States that led to the Iranian regime to cave to their knees and ask for a ceasefire and agree to re-opening the Strait of Hormuz,” Leavitt said. “So it was a very strong threat that led to results. As the Secretary of War stated at the Pentagon this morning, it was not an empty threat by any means.”

TRUMP’S THREAT TO END IRANIAN ‘CIVILIZATION’ SPARKS UPROAR ON CAPITOL HILL

Many critics of President Donald Trump have suggested he chickened out for not committing what they initially insisted was a “genocide” of the Iranian people. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Leavitt said that the Department of War had a targeted list ready to go if Iran did not meet Trump’s deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump first threatened Iran on Easter Sunday in a Truth Social post. He claimed that the Iranians would be “living in Hell,” if the Strait of Hormuz was not opened.

On Tuesday, Trump posted that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump wrote.

TRUMP AGREES TO 2-WEEK CEASEFIRE IF IRAN OPENS STRAIT OF HORMUZ

Pope Leo XIV gestures while walking to speak to the media on the U.S.–Israeli conflict with Iran, as he leaves the papal residence to head back to the Vatican, in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, April 7, 2026. (Reuters)

A reporter asked Leavitt if the United States could be seen as a “moral leader” in the world given that Trump threatened the eradication of an entire nation.

“The insinuation by anyone in this room that Iran somehow has the moral high ground is insulting considering the atrocities that they have committed against our people and our military over the past five decades,” Leavitt said.

Iranians react after a ceasefire announcement at the Enqelab square, in Tehran, on April 8, 2026. The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire Tuesday barely an hour before U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline to obliterate the rival country was set to expire, with Tehran to temporarily reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz. (AFP via Getty Images)

While Trump celebrated Iran’s ten-point peace agreement proposal on Truth Social, he garnered staunch criticism from Pope Leo. The leader of the Catholic Church called Trump’s threat to destroy Iran “truly unacceptable.” 

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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., posted a video on X Tuesday, pushing to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office. 

“He is threatening the entire destruction of a civilization,” Khanna said. “This is a moral crime. It is a war crime.”