Trump’s New Iran Threats Pose Ethical Dilemma for US Military

President Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, during a news conference  in Washington on April 6,. — President Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, during a news conference in Washington on April 6,.
Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg

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By Anthony Capaccio and Courtney McBride

April 7, 2026 at 9:34 PM UTC

President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization poses an ethical quandary for the US military, whose officers would carry out his orders — and could be in jeopardy if they do anything later deemed illegal.

Legal experts, Democrats and even some Republicans have criticized Trump for his warning earlier Tuesday that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran didn’t reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz.