Firestorm as Trump official defends war crime threat as merely 'mean tweets'

The United States UN ambassador was facing a tough line of questioning from lawmakers on Wednesday over the ongoing Iran war and President Donald Trump's dire threat to destroy "a whole civilization."

Mike Waltz was testifying to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on American foreign policy amid the ongoing military conflict, as the ceasefire between the United States and Iran was just days away from ending. His responses around the president's threats last week reportedly caught the lawmakers off guard.

Kyle Griffin, executive producer of The Weeknight on MS NOW, described on X how Waltz reacted when he "was asked by senators about Trump's threat to obliterate Iran — when he posted 'a whole civilization will die tonight.'"

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) posed a question for Waltz, describing how the United Nations and the United States have historically been involved in developing laws of war to prevent unnecessary civilian deaths in military conflicts.

"But President Trump has said that if Iran does not comply with his demands that he will 'end Iran's civilization' with specific threats to target civilian infrastructure," Murphy said. "This looks to a lot of us, and to the world, like a promise by the president of the United States to commit war crimes. I'm sure you don't agree with that assessment, but we've never had a president before threaten to 'end an entire civilization,' and double down on that claim, if that country does not accede to the demands of the United States."

"So what does the president mean when he says that if these negotiations don't work out, he will 'end Iran's civilization'?" Murphy asked.

Waltz defended Trump's comments, citing Iran's previous actions.

"Senator, it was some tough talk," Waltz said, claiming that Trump's comments had led to a ceasefire and prompted ongoing negotiations.

Murphy pushed back on Waltz.

"I guess it's an open question whether we should pursue our aims by threatening another nation with mass civilian casualty," Murphy said. "I don't know if that's something we should celebrate that we are able to cow nations to our demands by threatening to kill civilians."

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) pressed Waltz to explain why the U.S. should continue fighting in a "deeply unpopular war."

"It might be some mean tweets, it might be some tough love, but they got the message," Waltz said, defending Trump's decision to post the threat on his Truth Social platform.

Users on social media commented on Waltz's response about "mean tweets."

"We are all in Middle School," former Republican and political commentator Nancy Ruth Gorelo wrote on X.

"Mike Waltz's response is totally unacceptable for a UN ambassador," Artist and commentator Art Candee wrote on X.

"Well, mean tweets are typical from Trump and JD Vance, the meanest p---- a-- b------ hanging with the other mean girls in the cafeteria," political commentator Robert Johnson wrote on X, sharing two photos of "Mean Girls" with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.