Trump affirms he's 'sticking to' imminent threat to forever end Iranian civilization

President Donald Trump called Fox News’ Bret Baier Tuesday morning to affirm that he would be “sticking to” his threat to permanently destroy Iranian civilization by Tuesday night, and that plans were already “moving forward.”

“I just got off the phone with the president,” Baier said. “He called, and I said ‘listen, if you were to put odds on it, what were the odds that this is going to end up being a negotiated deal?’ He said he wasn’t going to put odds on it, but he said ‘8 p.m. is happening’ – that’s what he said.”

Trump sent shockwaves across the globe early Tuesday morning with his threat to destroy “a whole civilization,” a warning prompted by Iran’s refusal to reopen a key shipping route to U.S.-aligned vessels, which it had restricted access to in response to U.S.-Israeli attacks.

In his phone call with Baier, Trump purportedly said it was still possible that his administration could reach an agreement with Tehran before his 8 p.m. deadline is reached. However, after Trump’s threat, Tehran closed all of its diplomatic and indirect channels of communication with the United States, per reporting from Iran International, making such an outcome unlikely.

“[Trump] said ‘if we get to that point, there is going to be an attack like they have not seen,’” Baier continued, recalling his recent phone call with the president.

“He’s sticking to that at this point. Now, he said if negotiations move forward today and there is something concrete, that could change, but at this hour, he said it is moving forward with the plans that we have.”