The Briefing with Jen Psaki
'Complete catastrophe': Trump faces widespread consequences for Iran blunder
09 Apr 2026
Chapter 1: What are the implications of Trump's threat to Iran?
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The American people are basically telling the president that they are not okay with any of this.
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We spent, I spent, I'm sure you spent the entire day wondering if the president of the United States was about to order a genocidal attack on a country of 93 million people. I mean, just sit with that for a moment. I know that he says all sorts of crazy things, but that is what he threatened this morning.
This morning, the president issued a threat to the entire population of Iran saying, quote, a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again if Iran did not meet his latest deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. tonight. Now, most of the world treated a threat to wipe out an entire civilization with the horror and the disgust that something like that deserves.
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Chapter 2: How did the media respond to Trump's Iran ultimatum?
But we also saw efforts to play into the president's desperate theatrics, treating this whole thing like it was some sort of a primetime TV reality show. Fox Business Channel and at least one Israeli news outlet even had countdown clocks. You can see them on your screen right there ticking away the seconds until the president's deadline for the indiscriminate mass murder he had threatened.
Will he or won't he? That was what they were asking all day. So those clocks were ticking away. Tune in today to find out. We'll see what happens. Well, tonight, just an hour and a half before his self-imposed deadline, Trump backed down and managed to justify a form of an off-ramp for himself.
In a post on his social media account, Trump said he had agreed to, quote, suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of, you guessed it, two weeks.
Chapter 3: What does the Iran ceasefire deal entail?
And in case you weren't familiar, two weeks has long been the president's absolute favorite timeline for putting off promises that he doesn't want to deliver on.
We're going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks. I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks, within two weeks. I could answer that question better in two weeks. I'll do this at some point over the next two weeks. I'll announce it over the next two weeks. I'll tell you about that in a month from now or two weeks from now.
You can ask that question in two weeks. And we'll see. It'll be out in about less than two weeks.
Chapter 4: How is Trump's administration perceived in terms of foreign policy?
We're going to start selling, hopefully, in about two weeks.
It's always two weeks. Always two weeks. Now, the two-week ceasefire that Trump announced tonight was brokered by the prime minister of Pakistan, who says it applies to the entire region and is effective immediately. Trump says the deal is contingent on Iran agreeing to the, quote, complete, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
though it does not seem that Iran is giving up control of the Strait itself, a street it did not control before Trump started this war. In fact, Iran's foreign minister made a point of saying that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran's armed forces, which definitely does not sound like going back to the way things were just over a month ago.
Now, in a separate statement quoted in Iranian media from Iran's Supreme National Security Council, they're also claiming that they forced, quote, America to accept its 10-point plan, in which, again, according to this statement from Iran's Supreme National Security Council appearing in Vars Media, the United States committed in principle to, quote, continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, acceptance of enrichment, lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions, and payment of compensation.
It's very hard to believe that the Trump administration would agree to any of that, even the Trump administration. But in any case, Trump seems to have put off for this moment, right, while we are sitting here, the catastrophic strikes he's been promising.
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Chapter 5: What consequences does the Iran situation have for U.S. interests?
And it feels kind of like we've been here before, doesn't it? It's because we have. I mean, last month, Trump gave Iran 48 hours to open the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to obliterate the country's power plants if they didn't comply by March 23rd. But when that day arrived, Trump extended his deadline by five days, saying the U.S. would hold off until March 28th.
Then he extended that deadline by 10 days, setting it for April 6th at 8 p.m. Eastern. Then this past Sunday, he inexplicably shifted it back by another 24 hours to April 7th, which was this evening. And now, of course, he's postponed that deadline by two weeks, which would push it back to April 21st.
And look, if this tentative ceasefire where I would note even the Iranians don't seem to be on the same page and they certainly don't seem to be on the same page as the Trump administration in terms of the demands and what everybody's saying has or has not been agreed to.
Chapter 6: How do military officials view Trump's orders regarding Iran?
If it were actually a ceasefire with a verifiable step forward to ending this disastrous war of choice that Trump himself started, well, that should be a relief to everyone. But right now, after all that bluster, after all that maximalist language and reprehensible threats of genocide, after all that, where does this leave us?
Gas prices are at their highest levels in years, with the national average now sitting at $4.14 a gallon, according to AAA. Trump has destroyed America's already fractured relationship with our closest allies, threatening the future of the NATO alliance.
America has lost any moral authority on the question of war crimes and whether we can expect other countries to adhere to the Geneva Conventions as Trump ignores them. He's risked the prestige of America's military, treating them like a bunch of toy soldiers.
And today, the regime that was facing mass protests just a short few months ago mobilized hundreds of Iranians to take to the streets and form a human chain around the power plants and bridges that the U.S. had threatened to target.
When the president was asked by NBC News about that, he said without a hint of irony that the demonstrations were, quote, totally illegal, adding they're not allowed to do that. So if you're keeping track, the president insists it's fair game to wipe out an entire country in violation of international law.
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Chapter 7: What is the significance of the 25th Amendment discussions?
But if Iranians gather on their bridges and around their power plants, he says that's illegal. Meanwhile, Trump's insane threats have become something of a last straw for many in the president's fraying MAGA coalition. Right-wing influencers like Alex Jones, Candace Owens, Marjorie Taylor Greene are now calling on Trump's cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office.
And just listen to this familiar sounding edict from maggot influencer Tucker Carlson.
If you work in the White House or in the U.S. military, now is time to say no, absolutely not. And say it directly to the president, no. Those people who are in direct contact with the president need to say no. I'll resign. I'll do whatever I can do legally to stop this because this is insane.
Chapter 8: What insights does David Remnick provide on Trump's actions?
And if given the order, I'm not carrying it out. Figure out the codes on the football yourself.
Sound familiar? Tucker Carlson is imploring members of the military not to carry out any illegal orders issued by Donald Trump. That's essentially the same advice that several Democratic lawmakers gave to members of the armed services last year. It's the advice that prompted Trump to accuse those Democrats of treason, target them for retribution.
Trump's defense secretary even tried to demote Senator and retired Navy Captain Mark Kelly over his role in that message to service members. Now, after the president just walked the nation to the brink of carrying out a major war crime on his behalf, I actually can't think of anyone better to talk to. Joining me now is Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.
He's, of course, a member of the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. During his service as a Navy pilot, he flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. Senator, I'm so grateful you're here with me. I know you've had a busy couple of weeks. I want to start by just getting— your reaction to the Truth Social post late today from President Trump about a two-week ceasefire.
How did you read that, especially given some of what we've heard from the Iranians of what they say has been agreed to?
Well, I mean, we're still in the same spot I think we were in a couple of weeks ago or even weeks before that. We have a president that has no strategic plan, no goal he was trying to achieve, or at least a... moving the goalposts over and over again. He's not a serious president. He doesn't think before he speaks.
What he said this morning was incredibly disturbing, that he was gonna end a civilization that, by the way, has been around for thousands of years. And in doing that, he was basically saying that he was gonna commit unlawful acts which I've been concerned about since November.
So I am certainly somewhat relieved for now that there are not gonna be massive strikes on civilian infrastructure in violation of the law, but we will have to see what happens next. I mean, he is not a, in my view, not a serious person. He doesn't listen to people around him. He doesn't get great advice when you consider who he put around him. And we're at a really challenging point here.
The Strait of Hormuz is still closed. And I don't see how any of this has helped the American people.
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