Trump’s Bloodlust Thrives as Gaza Dies
If there was any doubt that Donald Trump is anything less than a President of sanity, his latest Truth Social posting should reinforce everything many have long thought of him.
The “man” who has long fashioned himself as a man of peace—whether at campaign rallies, in television interviews, or on his Truth Social platform—repeats the mantra that he’s the only recent US president who didn’t start a new war. But yesterday, that fragile façade collapsed with an unhinged and chilling post, in which President Trump delivered a grotesque ultimatum to Hamas, Gaza, and its people. It exposed Trump for what he is: not a man of peace, but a man of deals—a man for whom “peace” is only tolerable if it comes with a price tag, paid on his terms, in blood if necessary.
In a rambling and inflammatory post, President Trump threatened total annihilation of Hamas and ominously warned the people of Gaza that unless hostages are returned immediately, “there will be hell to pay.”
The post dripped with violent language, promising no Hamas member would be safe and sending a dark message to the civilian population of Gaza, suggesting their future depends on compliance—or else. In the style of a mob boss rather than a diplomat, Trump declared, “A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!”
Trump’s rhetoric is that of a conman who once claimed to “love peace” but today sounds more like a warlord issuing decrees from behind a gold-plated desk.
The most disturbing aspect of this message isn’t merely its tone—vicious, aggressive, and dehumanising—but its total lack of empathy or recognition of the human cost of violence. Gaza—Palestinian territory besieged and bombarded relentlessly for months, with its people subjected to oppression and slaughter for decades, home to more than two million people, half of whom are children—is treated here as a monolith complicit in terrorism. Trump’s words make no distinction between civilians and resistance fighters. Instead, they reduce an entire population to targets, an ominous green light for further destruction.
For a man who spent years railing against the “endless wars” of his predecessors, this post reveals his true philosophy: war is acceptable as long as someone else is doing the fighting, and as long as the chaos serves his strongman politics. Trump’s America First agenda never really meant peace; it meant peace for Americans, while violence was outsourced abroad.
Nowhere is this more evident than in America’s steadfast military and political backing of Israel’s ongoing actions in Gaza. The US has supplied Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, precision-guided bombs, and artillery, despite international outcry over the civilian death toll and widespread accusations of war crimes.
Washington’s unwavering support of Israel’s devastating military campaign has enabled the flattening of entire neighbourhoods, the destruction of hospitals, and the mass killing of civilians. It’s complicity, plain and simple. By providing the means, the funds, and the diplomatic shield in global forums like the UN, America has become an indispensable partner in Israel’s actions against Palestinians.
Trump’s latest outburst must also be understood through his personal brand. His so-called peace persona isn’t grounded in a genuine commitment to diplomacy or human rights; it’s a façade designed to leverage global conflict into personal gain. Under Trump, foreign policy has always been transactional.
In the Middle East, his administration has eagerly brokered arms deals with Gulf states, flaunted economic normalisation agreements like the Abraham Accords, and pandered to autocratic regimes if there was a cheque attached. Peace, to Trump, is merely another word for profit.
In 2020, Trump boasted about brokering “peace deals” between Israel and several Arab states, but these were no peace deals for Palestinians. Instead, they were lucrative diplomatic arrangements that bypassed the Palestinian cause entirely, rewarding Trump with fawning media coverage and bolstering the bank accounts of US weapons manufacturers. Trump doesn’t oppose war; he opposes wars that don’t personally benefit him.
What makes the post even more grotesque is its moral hypocrisy. Trump describes Hamas as “sick and twisted” for keeping bodies, yet shows no reflection on the broader context of the conflict, in which thousands of Palestinian bodies—many of them children—have been buried under rubble as a result of relentless airstrikes, often funded and backed by the US government. His declaration he is “sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job” isn't just a statement of military support; it’s an explicit endorsement of a campaign that human rights groups have repeatedly condemned as disproportionate and indiscriminate.
Trump’s silence on Israel’s detention of Palestinians is deafening. As of November 2023, Israel held approximately 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, including children, many under administrative detention without charge or trial.
Reports have documented torture, starvation, and inhumane treatment of these Palestinian hostages. Yet, Trump has never acknowledged or condemned these actions, nor has he addressed Israel’s aggressive military campaigns that have resulted in significant Palestinian casualties.
Trump’s language isn’t diplomacy. It’s not the language of peace. It’s the language of war fever, broadcast on social media by a president intoxicated with the power of his own voice. It's a warning of what may await the world in the months ahead: an America where foreign policy is conducted through threats, conflicts are inflamed, and peace is defined not by coexistence, but by submission.
Trump’s Truth Social tirade serves as a sobering reminder to anyone who still believes his narrative of being “anti-war.” His post offers none of that. It's the shrill cry of a man blind to the suffering of innocents, eager to stoke the flames of war if it suits his ambitions.