Rex Huppke: Trump’s ceasefire confusion just gave Vance an opportunity

I don’t mean to sound controversial, but a president shouldn’t be able to walk away from threatening to wipe out an entire civilization, even setting a deadline, as if Armageddon is a bloody reality show, and then carry on like he’s a normal president. Even if Republicans want you to think it’s normal.

In the sweep of less than 24 hours on Tuesday, Donald Trump went from threatening genocide to agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, a ceasefire that appears to give the Middle East nation a lot in return for nothing.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he stepped away from mass murder. But let’s be honest: America can’t continue with this kind of “Look at me, I’m a crazy former reality show star, tune in to see what I’ll do next?!?” insanity.

The world just spent an entire day not knowing whether the American president was going to commit war crimes or drop a nuclear bomb on Iran as part of a war he started and was never authorized to conduct.

Before Trump blinked on his threat of annihilation, Alex Wellerstein, a historian who specializes in the history of nuclear weapons, told the New York Times the reputational damage was already done: “You’re talking about a world that largely increasingly sees the United States as unhinged and dangerous, and not a reliable partner, where all of the countries that typically align with democracy and freedom are on the other side of the United States.”

That’s right. We’re the bad guys now. And a two-week hiatus from hostilities in Iran doesn’t change the fact that Trump posted these words about Iran: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

C’mon, America. Nobody should get a pass on that kind of unhinged rhetoric, particularly not a president.

Which brings us to congressional Republicans, who will undoubtedly give President Trump a pass for his unhinged rhetoric. Their continued acquiescence is as predictable as the sun rising, but I would beg them to step back and recognize what has now changed.

This war of choice is not over. It’s delayed by the customary two weeks, which Trump falls back on whenever he’s in trouble.

And the contours of the agreement that led to the ceasefire overwhelmingly favor Iran, including allowing the Iranian military to control the Strait of Hormuz and charge, according to the Times, a “fee of roughly $2 million per ship.” Prior to Trump’s attack, there were no fees for passing through the strait. This is an embarrassing and wildly problematic step backward for America and the world.

But the details make little difference because, as previously stated, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS OPENLY STATED HE IS WILLING TO COMMIT WAR CRIMES. The man leading our country said he would wipe out a civilization.

You don’t make that statement and then just excuse it with an oops.

To the extent anyone ever trusted Trump, no world leader in their right mind will trust him again. He has made us a rogue state, and that’s not something that can be easily fixed. America has lost the moral high ground and the world’s confidence.

The good guys don’t start wars for no reason. The good guys don’t threaten to wipe out civilian infrastructure and kill innocents.

We are not the good guys here, and there’s nothing Trump can say or do that’s going to change that. Again, you don’t walk away from threatening genocide.

Simply put, we can’t survive three more years of this. Instability at the top is a nation-destroyer.

If Vice President JD Vance were smart, and I very much don’t think he is, he would use this disgraceful moment to turn on the president and position himself as a less insane choice to lead the country. Maybe some Republicans would get on board with that, knowing the other path available to them ends in political ruin.

But I won’t hold my breath.

Barring a surge of sanity in the Republican Party, it will be up to Democrats to relentlessly hammer the incontrovertible fact that Trump is incapable of leading, to use every lever of power they have to hold him accountable, or at least throw a wrench into his destructive gears.

And voters in the midterm elections need to show the GOP that any party backing a president who threatens war crimes gets unceremoniously tossed in the bin.

These are frightening times for us and the world. But one thing is glaringly clear: Donald Trump has got to go.

Follow USA Today columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.