Wyoming delegation stands by Trump after ‘whole civilization will die’ post

President Donald Trump grabbed headlines across the nation with a Tuesday-morning post threatening “a whole civilization.” “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?” Trump said that “We will find out tonight” and called it one of the most important moments in the “long and complex history of the World.” He added, “47 years of extortion, corruption and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”

Hours later, the president announced the U.S. had reached a two-week ceasefire with Iran ahead of the 8 p.m. deadline, averting the attack he’d described in such dire tones. The ceasefire hinges on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key thoroughfare through which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas passes daily. Trump said the U.S. has received a 10-point proposal from Iran and believes it’s workable.

In the daylong interim between the threat and the ceasefire announcement, the public grappled with Trump’s post, some calling it genocidal and others hyperbolic. Wyoming’s all-Republican three-member congressional delegates cast the president’s message as a strong expression geared toward achieving a crucial outcome.

“Iran’s terrorist regime has been chanting ‘death to America’ for the past half century as a national motto,” said U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman. “If Tehran had its way, American civilization would be demolished tomorrow. President Trump is acting on a national security mandate to protect the American people that guarantees Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”

U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis said her understanding of the message is that Iran had a limited window to engage seriously with the U.S. “I’m encouraged that there’s still an opportunity for diplomacy here,” she said. “The President is in the best position to assess the situation and determine our next steps, and I’m hopeful that these negotiations can lead to a constructive outcome.”

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso said that with Operation Epic Fury, Trump is “taking decisive action to protect the American people from a regime that has spent 47 years attacking us. It’s time for Iran to choose peace.”

Wyoming-based lobbyist Richard Garrett urged residents to call for resistance to the president’s message. “I have called the offices of each member of our congressional delegation urging them to tell POTUS that bombing Iran into ‘the Stone Age’ is lunacy and a war crime,” wrote Garrett. Former state Rep. Scott Clem, a Republican of Gillette who now serves on the Campbell County Commission and writes a regular Cowboy State Daily column reflecting his own views, opined on the post. “A whole civilization will die tonight? There’s a term for that: genocide,” wrote Clem. He said Trump is known for escalating with language and pressuring “the other side to blink first.” Before the ceasefire announcement, Clem voiced doubt about whether Iran would cave and asked if Trump would follow through. “And if he does, what will that mean for America and our place in the world?” he said.