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Activists and supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami party burn a poster of US President Donald Trump during an anti-US and Israel protest in Peshawar on March 2, 2026 after the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei amid US-Israel strikes.
(Photo by Abdul Majeed/ AFP via Getty Images)
Truly Evil Trump Must Be Stopped—Now!
It is our responsibility, in whatever capacity we can, to stand up against this despotic act of pure immorality. Write. Phone. Shout. March. Trump has moved beyond indecency into the realm of insanity.
Apr 07, 2026
I don’t know how better to put this than to say President Donald Trump’s threat this morning to “wipe out a whole civilization” of Iran puts America into a new immoral universe.
He is directly threatening a war crime. And every one of us is complicit in it, in the sense that this threat comes from the president of the United States, threatening to utilize our nation’s military power to exterminate an entire people.
Regardless of whether Trump follows through on this threat, it needs to be repudiated immediately. No civilized nation threatens to wipe out another civilization. No people, through their head of state, threatens to exterminate another people. No human being vested with official power by human beings threatens to wipe out another part of humanity.
Those of us who are silent right now—whether we call ourselves Democrats or Republicans, whether we are in the military or are civilians, whether or not we hold public office, whether we like Donald Trump or detest him—must not remain silent.
It’s our responsibility as human beings to demand that Trump repudiate this threat to other human beings.
It is our responsibility as citizens of this nation to say unambiguously that what Trump is now threatening is truly evil. It’s our responsibility as human beings to demand that Trump repudiate this threat to other human beings. It is our responsibility to call on all other Americans, in whatever capacity, to stand up against this despotic act of pure immorality.
Write. Phone. Shout. March. Trump has moved beyond indecency into the realm of insanity. This must be stopped.
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© 2025 Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
I don’t know how better to put this than to say President Donald Trump’s threat this morning to “wipe out a whole civilization” of Iran puts America into a new immoral universe.
He is directly threatening a war crime. And every one of us is complicit in it, in the sense that this threat comes from the president of the United States, threatening to utilize our nation’s military power to exterminate an entire people.
Regardless of whether Trump follows through on this threat, it needs to be repudiated immediately. No civilized nation threatens to wipe out another civilization. No people, through their head of state, threatens to exterminate another people. No human being vested with official power by human beings threatens to wipe out another part of humanity.
Those of us who are silent right now—whether we call ourselves Democrats or Republicans, whether we are in the military or are civilians, whether or not we hold public office, whether we like Donald Trump or detest him—must not remain silent.
It’s our responsibility as human beings to demand that Trump repudiate this threat to other human beings.
It is our responsibility as citizens of this nation to say unambiguously that what Trump is now threatening is truly evil. It’s our responsibility as human beings to demand that Trump repudiate this threat to other human beings. It is our responsibility to call on all other Americans, in whatever capacity, to stand up against this despotic act of pure immorality.
Write. Phone. Shout. March. Trump has moved beyond indecency into the realm of insanity. This must be stopped.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
I don’t know how better to put this than to say President Donald Trump’s threat this morning to “wipe out a whole civilization” of Iran puts America into a new immoral universe.
He is directly threatening a war crime. And every one of us is complicit in it, in the sense that this threat comes from the president of the United States, threatening to utilize our nation’s military power to exterminate an entire people.
Regardless of whether Trump follows through on this threat, it needs to be repudiated immediately. No civilized nation threatens to wipe out another civilization. No people, through their head of state, threatens to exterminate another people. No human being vested with official power by human beings threatens to wipe out another part of humanity.
Those of us who are silent right now—whether we call ourselves Democrats or Republicans, whether we are in the military or are civilians, whether or not we hold public office, whether we like Donald Trump or detest him—must not remain silent.
It’s our responsibility as human beings to demand that Trump repudiate this threat to other human beings.
It is our responsibility as citizens of this nation to say unambiguously that what Trump is now threatening is truly evil. It’s our responsibility as human beings to demand that Trump repudiate this threat to other human beings. It is our responsibility to call on all other Americans, in whatever capacity, to stand up against this despotic act of pure immorality.
Write. Phone. Shout. March. Trump has moved beyond indecency into the realm of insanity. This must be stopped.
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