President Donald Trump’s lengthy social media rant threatening an “ECONOMIC D-DAY” over Iran on Wednesday was ripped apart by critics who seemed to see right through his rhetoric.
Mere hours after bragging that the situation was “so good” with Iran, Trump promised the country would experience “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.” He also noted that any country that “allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”
“You know who you are,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat.”
Critics were quick to point out that the countries aiding Iran during the conflict were the same ones Trump often praises, including Russia. This would make it improbable that Trump would follow through with his ultimatum, thus continuing his pattern of walking back economic and military threats against Iran.
According to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Iran has been under international economic sanctions for decades, and there were few measures the U.S. could take outside of sanctioning or cutting off relations with Tehran’s largest trading partners.
“Iran’s largest trading partner is China; its second largest trading partner, I believe, is Russia. It also trades with North Korea, a little bit with India. These are not countries that the Trump administration has that much influence over,” Zakaria said on Wednesday’s edition of “Anderson Cooper 360°.”
Zakaria added that it was a dubious proposition for the U.S. to cut off trade with China over the issue of Iran.
“We’ve already seen how that would work ’cause the Chinese would cut off their exports of rare earth, and all kinds of crucial things that the United States depends on. So it seems unlikely that you’re actually gonna get at the core problem,” Zakaria said.
Read more reactions to Trump’s post here: