What Can Be Done if Trump Gives the Orders to Wipe Out Iran?
President Trump was apparently about to give the orders to wipe out Iran on Tuesday. However, about a half hour before lift-off, a 14 day cease-fire deal was reached with the assistance of Pakistan and China. Trump said he would wipe out Iran’s civilization, its bridges and power plants and return them to the Stone Age. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/trump-warns-a-whole-civilization-will-die-tonight-if-a-deal-with-iran-isnt-reached If carried out, this mass genocide would have been one of the gravest crimes in the history of the world. We don’t know whether he was planning to order the use of nuclear weapons or conventional weapons or how far he was prepared to go. The crisis is not over, far from it; the parties have agreed to a ceasefire and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks to negotiate their differences. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/8/us-iran-ceasefire-deal-what-are-the-terms-and-whats-next
First, one would hope that the Generals and Admirals, officers and enlisted alike would refuse to carry out Trump’s orders, which would be a war crime. https://media.defense.gov/2023/Jul/31/2003271432/-1/-1/0/DOD-LAW-OF-WAR-MANUAL-JUNE-2015-UPDATED-JULY%202023.PDF They have taken a sacred oath. https://www.army.mil/values/officers.html The US Armed Forces are not permitted to commit genocide, nor slaughter civilians. They must fight the enemy’s armed forces, not their civilians.
Second, all members of Congress and all members of the President’s Cabinet take an oath of office, requiring them to uphold and defend the US Constitution. “I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Oath-of-Office
Third, the US Constitution explicitly gives Congress (not the President) the unilateral power to declare war. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i/clauses/753 Iran has not attacked the US; rather the US and Israel have attacked Iran, have killed their leaders, have destroyed their armed forces and their war making facilities, and our President is now threatening to obliterate their civilization because they have obstructed the Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of the world’s oil and gas passes.
Fourth, there are two ways to remove a President who refuses to comply with the US Constitution and the laws governing the conduct of wars. 1) The House may initiate impeachment proceedings which require a majority vote in the House and a 2/3rds majority in the Senate. The President must have committed treason, bribery or a high crime and misdemeanor. https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII-S4-1/ALDE_00000282/ 2) The House, Senate, or the President’s Cabinet may initiate 25th Amendment unfitness proceedings if they believe the President is not mentally or physically well enough to execute his responsibilities. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxv A finding of Presidential disability to conduct the responsibilities of the Presidency requires a 2/3rds vote of both houses of Congress. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxv
The advantages of proceeding under the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution are that it would prevent President Trump from destroying the nation of Iran and its 90 million people. Whereas impeachment proceedings would be conducted after the President has committed genocide or other catastrophic war crimes.
These proceedings are at this point a hypothetical, as the Republicans that control Congress and the members of Trump’s cabinet are not about to challenge him. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trumps-threat-iran-shocks-global-leaders-unnerves-some-republicans-2026-04-07/ It is up to us the American people to convince the nation’s political leaders to take action before Trump gives such orders.