President Donald Trump may have announced a temporary ceasefire just 90 minutes before his deadline that the U.S. would annihilate Iran if it didn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Still, hours earlier, Black political and community leaders criticized the president’s handling of the war in recent weeks.
Some had called his most recent comments about a country of more than 90 million people a “threat of genocidal war crimes” and said that “it’s time to use the 25th Amendment” to remove him from office.
Early on Tuesday, 12 hours before the 8 p.m. deadline, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” He added, “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
These comments followed a profanity-filled post on Easter Sunday in which the president wrote, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
On Tuesday, the NAACP called for the first time in its history for the 25th Amendment to be invoked. The civil rights organization condemned Trump’s statements in recent weeks and raised concerns about his “ability to fulfill the duties in office.”
“This president is unfit, unwell, and unhinged,” said Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP. “The rhetoric and behavior we are witnessing from Trump isn’t just alarming, it’s dangerous.”
In the early weeks of the U.S. war in Iran, Black Americans have emerged as some of its most vocal critics. In a recent survey conducted by YouGov, 62% of Black respondents said that they somewhat or strongly disapproved of the war, a higher share than white, Latino, and other respondents, and they were also the least likely to back it.
Historically, Black Americans have been among the most skeptical of U.S. wars — from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Polls have repeatedly found that Black respondents are less likely than white respondents to support U.S. military interventions and more sensitive to the human costs of war. Researchers note that this opposition springs less from fears of losing individual family members than from a broader sense of responsibility for the safety and well‑being of Black communities as a whole.
What Black Americans are calling for
It isn’t a coincidence that Black Americans disproportionately disapprove of the U.S. war in Iran, according to john a. powell, a professor of African American studies and ethnic studies at University of California, Berkeley.
“This dominant power exacting violence and domination over other people is also something that Black American communities know all too well, have empathy around, and they disapprove of,” he told Capital B.
Angela Hanks of The Century Foundation, a New York City-based progressive think tank, also pointed out the potential economic costs of the war — funds that could be used to help vulnerable communities.
“According to recent reporting, the Trump administration is preparing to spend an estimated $200 billion on military escalation with Iran,” she said in a statement to Capital B. “It’s worth being clear about what that number actually represents.”
She estimated that, with $200 billion, the U.S. could cancel all medical debt, fund Affordable Care Act subsidies for nearly six years, cut tariff refund checks to every household, provide free school lunch to all children, fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and cover annual tuition for 5 million community college students per year for 10 years, among other things.
“Yet rather than lifting a finger to help working Americans,” Hanks added, “the Trump administration continues to make their lives more expensive at every turn, all while putting more money into their own pockets and the pockets of the wealthy.”
The Black Alliance for Peace, a human rights organization that advocates against war and repression, also denounced Trump’s actions in recent weeks.
“The Black Alliance For Peace condemns, in the strongest terms, the recent U.S.-Israeli bombing of Tehran and other cities in Iran, which included the bombing of an all-girls school in Minab, which reportedly killed at least 50 students,” the group said in a statement.
“This military attack is a flagrant violation of the most fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter,” the group continued. “As articulated by Iran’s Foreign Ministry and multiple international observers, it constitutes a clear act of aggression against a sovereign member state, undermining international peace and security.”
What Black leaders are saying
Democratic lawmakers have sounded the alarm over Trump’s actions:
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: Capital B reached out to his office, which referenced his statement online. “Congress must immediately end this reckless war of choice in Iran before Donald Trump plunges us into World War III. It’s time for every single Republican to put patriotic duty over party and stop the madness. Enough,” he said on X.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts: “This is a horrifying threat of genocidal war crimes. The lives of civilians and service members alike are at stake here. Congress must stop this war and remove Trump from the White House,” Pressley said in a statement to Capital B.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota: “This is not ok. Invoke the 25th amendment. Impeach. Remove. This unhinged lunatic must be removed from office,” she wrote on X.
U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida: “Donald Trump is an unhinged warmonger and war criminal using violence for personal gain and profit, while innocent people pay the price. Congress must reconvene to pass the War Powers Resolution. The 25th Amendment must also be invoked. Congress has to do our damn job. War powers and Impeachment, he wrote on Bluesky.”
U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey: “That’s it. It’s time to use the 25th Amendment. In just 48 hours, the president has gone from threatening war crimes to threatening genocide. He is clearly unstable and must be set aside,” she wrote on X.
