Relief as Trump backs down at the eleventh hour

A single social media post set the tone for a day of global alarm: the president of the United States appeared to threaten the destruction of Iran itself.

“A whole civilisation will die tonight,” he wrote, “never to be brought back again”.

In Washington, the backlash was immediate and fierce.

“Unhinged,” “deranged,” “lunatic,” and “genocidal” were among the terms used by political opponents, with many demanding he be removed from office.

Many Republicans, by contrast, sought to soften the impact of the comments, urging the public not to read them too literally.

But the statement also crossed a line for several lawmakers in Mr Trump’s own party.

Senator Ron Johnson said he did not want to see the US “blowing up civilian infrastructure”.

Another Republican, Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran, wrote in a post on X: “That is not who we are, and it is not consistent with the principles that have long guided America.”

Beyond the US, the language prompted disbelief and anger.

Pope Leo XIV called it “truly unacceptable” and the UN chief António Guterres said he was “deeply troubled”.

Then, with only 90 minutes remaining before the deadline Mr Trump had set for strikes on Iran’s bridges and power plants, another social media post appeared.

It announced a two-week ceasefire if Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz.

The reversal was as striking as the original threat.

And for those who had followed the countdown minute by minute, it brought a palpable sense of relief.

Donald Trump had earlier threatened to annihilate Iranian civilisation

Asian markets jumped at the open in response to the ceasefire announcement, while oil prices fell sharply.

It was far from the first time the US president had pushed a crisis to the brink before stepping back at the last moment.

Think Greenland. And tariffs.

That pattern, after all, helped fuel the internet meme TACO – Trump Always Chickens Out – among his critics.

Yet this episode feels harder to dismiss as more of the same.

The language used in recent days to pressure Iran into opening the strategic waterway was, to borrow a Trump phrase, unlike anything seen before.

On Easter Sunday, the holiest day in the Christian calendar, he wrote: “Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” drawing condemnation from across the political spectrum, including former ally and right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, who called it “vile on every level”.

After repeated threats to bomb Iran back to the “stone ages”, it already seemed difficult to imagine the rhetoric escalating further.

But it did.

And while there is relief this morning that the immediate threat has eased, at least for two weeks, there is also a growing sense that something fundamental has shifted.

The United States, long cast as leader of the free world, now appears to have cast aside not only established diplomatic norms but even the appearance of respect for international law, deepening mistrust among allies and adversaries alike.

As legal experts have repeatedly noted this week, the deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure violates international law.

Such infrastructure can lose protected status if it is used for military purposes, but only where attacking it provides “a definite military advantage”.

Given that US officials have said repeatedly – most recently in Mr Trump’s ceasefire announcement post last night – that military objectives have already been achieved, it is difficult to see how the administration could argue that bombing power plants and bridges would deliver any definite advantage.

But there is exhaustion as well.

Exhaustion among world leaders left guessing until the final minutes.

It would not be surprising if this episode accelerates a scramble for new alliances, as countries look for partners they regard as more dependable.

And it is difficult to imagine the gains from such a global realignment flowing anywhere other than to China – the rising authoritarian superpower and Washington’s chief rival.

Before the ceasefire was announced, Mr Trump had threatened death to Iranian civilisation with these words: “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the world.”

Right now, it certainly feels that way.