Trump hangs up on reporter over question about his threat of ‘wiping out a civilization’

WASHINGTON, DC: Liz Landers, the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, said she spoke with President Donald Trump by phone on Wednesday, April 8, morning, just hours after a two-week ceasefire deal between the US and Iran came together.

According to Landers, Trump hung up on her she pressed him on continued violence beyond the agreement.

Trump hangs up on reporter

“I asked about Lebanon still being hit and if he’d seen that,” Landers reported, adding that Trump replied, “Yeah, they were not included in the deal.”

“I asked why not – and if they should have been," she recalled.

Trump replied, “Because of Hezbollah. They were not included in the deal. That’ll get taken care of, too. It’s alright.”

Landers kept going, "I asked, And you’re okay with the Israelis continuing to hit them?"

Trump responded with little patience. “It’s part of the deal – everyone knows that. That’s a separate skirmish. Okay? You gotta talk faster," he said.

"I tried to ask if he regretted that Truth Social post about wiping out a civilization and noted that there was huge pushback to that statement from Democrats. Then he hung up," she alleged. 

Just a day earlier, Trump had sparked outrage with a Truth Social post against the Iranian regime.

“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? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”

More than 80 House Democrats called for Trump’s removal from office following the post.

But Trump pivoted quickly. Within hours of the warning, he announced a temporary truce.

Ceasefire conditions and a narrow window

Trump revealed a two-week ceasefire with Iran just about 90 minutes before a deadline he himself had set for Tehran to strike a deal.

“Based on conversations with [Pakistan] Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The ceasefire isn’t unconditional. Trump made clear it hinges on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which is a critical artery for global oil supply.

Meanwhile, Iran has floated a 10-point plan to wind down the conflict. The proposal includes “controlled passage” through the strait, overseen by its armed forces, compensation for damages, and a full withdrawal of US troops from “all bases and positions in the region.” Trump called the plan “workable” on social media.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council added that negotiations with the US are set to begin Friday in Islamabad, with a two-week window and a possible extension “by mutual agreement.”

Meanwhile, Israel is watching closely. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu was supportive of the pause, but only if Iran complies.

It backed the suspension of US strikes “subject to Iran immediately opening the straits and stopping all attacks on the US, Israel, and countries in the region.”