What NC’s members of Congress said as Trump threatened to destroy Iran
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Some NC Democrats urge Congress to reconvene to pass a War Powers Resolution.
- Many NC Republicans stay silent; some Republicans nationally question the strategy.
- Trump’s public threats escalate the conflict and prompt mixed reactions from lawmakers.
Mere hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline by which either Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz or he would kill a “whole civilization,” Trump declared a 2-week ceasefire was in place.
Trump then took a victory lap on social media, declaring Tuesday “a big day for World Peace.”
But his actions leading up to the cease-fire led to both calls for his impeachment and a push for better congressional oversight of wars.
In the hours before Trump, according to his ultimatum, was set to destroy Iran, Democratic lawmakers from North Carolina urged Congress to return to session.
Rep. Valerie Foushee, a Democrat from Hillsborough, was among at least 50 lawmakers to call for Trump’s impeachment.
North Carolina Republicans remained mostly silent on Trump’s post, except Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from Davie County, who spoke exclusively with McClatchy Tuesday afternoon.
Sen. Pat Harrigan, a Republican from Hickory, did not respond to McClatchy, but spoke to Forbes, defending Trump, but also saying Trump’s word choice left room for ambiguity that needs to be explained to the American people.
Trump’s posts
Tuesday began with a post from Trump stating: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
Rep. Alma Adams, a Democrat from Charlotte, called Trump’s message “unhinged” and said it “showed a lack of leadership.”
But Budd said he doesn’t believe Trump’s goal is to kill all of Iran.
“That’s 93 million people,” Budd said in a phone interview. “I don’t think that’s the president’s goal. The goal needs to be U.S. safety and of our 350 million individuals here.”
He added that Trump’s goal is to ensure Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons.
“I’m very sympathetic to the captive people of Iran and the regime they’ve had to suffer under for 50 years,” Budd said. “But our first priority are the people in the U.S. and protecting people here.”
Trump’s post came two days after he wrote an expletive-laden message, on Easter morning, threatening to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
In his message, Trump told Iran’s leaders to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a major trade route for liquified natural gas and oil between the Persian Gulf and the ocean. The strait’s closure caused gas prices around the world to skyrocket. In the United States, the average price for regular unleaded gas soared from $2.98 a gallon before the war to $4.14.
Gas prices are about a dollar shy of their all-time peak, $5.16 for a gallon of regular unleaded on June 14, 2022.
“Open the (expletive) Strait, you crazy (expletive), or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH,” Trump wrote Sunday. “Praise be to Allah.”
“Trump’s increasingly erratic behavior is dangerously escalating this conflict, and now he is even threatening war crimes,” Rep. Deborah Ross wrote in a statement to McClatchy. “His administration has no way to pay for this war, no clear strategy, and no endgame. He continues to escalate at every opportunity, putting U.S. service members abroad at risk.”
U.S. officials reported at least 13 soldiers have died in the Iran war and more than 520 have been injured. The United States also reported $800 million in damages to bases throughout the Middle East.
These numbers do not include the thousands of civilians and military personnel from other countries who died during the war.
What do members of Congress say about Trump?
McClatchy reached out to all of North Carolina’s members of Congress asking their thoughts on Trump’s posts and his threats to Iran on Tuesday night.
So far only Budd, and Democrats Adams; Ross, of Raleigh; and Foushee, of Orange County, have responded.
Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican from Flat Rock, attended an event with Budd and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin Tuesday morning in Asheville but refused to comment about Trump’s post, directing McClatchy to reach out to the White House.
Adams wrote in a public statement that Trump “continues to engage our country in reckless wars putting the lives of our military in harm’s way without an objective or even a clear exit strategy.”
Foushee pointed to Trump’s statements that Foushee summarized by saying the United States “doesn’t have money for childcare or healthcare,” but is requesting $1.5 trillion from Congress for military expenditures and threatening to destroy Iran.
“Trump talks about his war that has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians with no remorse — he speaks like other instigators of grave wars across history who cared little for the human toll,” Foushee wrote to McClatchy.
In June 2025, Foushee cosponsored legislation to stop Trump’s actions in Iran — when he launched a 12-day airstrike on the country targeting Iran’s nuclear and military facilities — without congressional approval. On Tuesday, she called the war “a moral issue.” Adams is also a cosponsor.
“Republicans must bring Congress back into session so that we can pass the bipartisan War Powers Resolution to stop this senseless war immediately,” Foushee said.
Both chambers of Congress are in the second week of a recess and don’t intend to return until next week. Members went home without addressing the war or funding the Department of Homeland Security, whose partial shutdown has caused widespread delays at airports across the country.
The partial government shutdown began on Feb. 14, after lawmakers failed to reach a consensus on how to fund the agency or on policies to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol.
Budd said he’s more than ready to come back to Washington if called, but that if Democrats want to do that for nothing more than messaging, that doesn’t accomplish much.
Budd on Iran war
And unlike his colleagues, Budd supported Trump’s messaging.
“This is a 40-year, 50-year Iranian regime that they’ve prosecuted, they’ve tortured, they’ve killed their own citizens indiscriminately, and they funded terror that has killed Americans and destabilized the Middle East, so the president needs to be very forceful, not just in his language, but in his actions,” Budd said. “The president wants to resolve this diplomatically, and we hope that it will be, but they haven’t shown a willingness.”
He also pointed back to a March missile attack on Diego Garcia, a military base on an island in the Indian Ocean used by the United Kingdom and the United States. He said it proved that Iran’s ballistic designs and capabilities were greater than previously known.
“They’ve been lying about that,” Budd said, adding that that puts the world at greater risk.
“That’s one more reason that we need to defend the homeland and fund DHS for our own protection,” Budd said. “I can’t believe at a time of highest need, the Democrats have walked away from multiple options to fund the Department of Homeland Security. So we need to do that, and the president needs to have all options at his disposal to protect the U.S.”
Republicans hold the majority in both chambers of Congress, meaning they set the schedule. Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune reached an agreement to pass funding for DHS, except for ICE and border patrol, which would be funded through a reconciliation process at a later date.
The bill passed the Senate under unanimous consent, but Johnson failed to bring it to the House floor, knowing some Republican hardliners who object to the bill could block its passage.
Budd said he wished Johnson had better messaged that that legislation was the only path forward. He added that he’s very sympathetic that Johnson has to accomplish this with a slim majority of 220 lawmakers with diverse perspectives.
Calls for limits on war powers
Ross, on Tuesday, also urged leadership to bring members of Congress back to Washington.
“Congress cannot afford to stand by any longer,” Ross told McClatchy. “We must reconvene to pass a War Powers Resolution and rein in Trump’s unhinged actions before the conflict spirals further out of control.”
Under the proposed War Powers Resolution, Trump has 60 days to seek congressional approval for the war he launched along with Israeli leaders on Feb. 28. The initial airstrikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
If Congress fails to grant Trump a 30-day extension of the war, the president then has 30 days to withdraw military forces from the conflict.
On Tuesday morning, Senate Republicans posted on social media, “Iran would be wise to take President Trump at his word. They can choose the easy way or the hard way.”
But some Republicans have walked back their support. Both South Carolina’s Rep. Nancy Mace and Alabama’s Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, have signaled that briefings on Iran left them confused about whether Trump had clear goals, objectives or strategy. Other Republicans threatened to withdraw their support if the war went past 60 days.
Trump and other administration officials have also given conflicting public explanations for the war and whether he was winding it down.
“Now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionary wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”
Ceasefire
The United States agreed to “many” parts of a 15-point peace plan with Iran, according to Trump.
Trump posted that “there will be no enrichment of Uranium,” and that the U.S. will dig up and remove all “Nuclear ‘Dust,’” apparently referring to already enriched uranium he says is buried due to U.S. bombing of nuclear sites.
He also said there will be talks about relief from tariffs and sanctions.
He also announced that the U.S. military plans to help traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and that “big money will be made.”
He also wrote that the United States will just be “’hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well.”
Lastly, Trump promised 50% tariffs against any country supplying military weapons to Iran.
This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 5:39 PM.
