Camille Naredo

US President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. Brendan Smialowsky, AFP

US President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Article (news)

Donald Trump

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1775405066076AFP__20260331__A6DJ2AN__v1__MidRes__UsPoliticsTrump.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="US President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. Brendan Smialowsky, AFP" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">US President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. <em>Brendan Smialowsky, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump threatened in an expletive-laden post on Sunday to strike Iran&#x27;s power plants and bridges if it does not reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, after announcing the rescue of an airman in a &quot;miraculous&quot; operation.</p><p>Trump revealed on his Truth Social platform that the &quot;seriously wounded&quot; airman had been rescued &quot;from deep inside the mountains of Iran&quot;.</p><p>He called it &quot;one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US history&quot;.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/5/trump-says-us-airman-from-downed-f-15-in-iran-is-safe-and-sound-1412">READ: Trump says US airman from downed F-15 in Iran is &#x27;safe and sound&#x27;</a></div><p>Iran said it had &quot;foiled&quot; the operation, and distributed images appearing to show the wreckage of several aircraft, but did not deny that US forces had extracted him.</p><p>The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has engulfed the Middle East and convulsed the global economy.</p><p>Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, a vital conduit for oil and gas, and launched strikes on Israel and its Gulf neighbours.</p><p>Trump warned Iran to stop choking traffic through Hormuz. &quot;Open the F*ckin&#x27; Strait, you crazy bastards, or you&#x27;ll be living in Hell,&quot; he said, in his social media post.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/5/-time-is-running-out-trump-gives-iran-48-hours-to-make-deal-or-face-hell-0000">READ: Trump gives Iran 48 hours to make deal or face &#x27;Hell&#x27;</a></div><p>&quot;Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!&quot; he declared. Later, Trump told Fox News that he believed there was a &quot;good chance&quot; that Iran would agree to a deal on Monday.</p><p>Trump&#x27;s warning came as the Omani and Iranian deputy foreign ministers reportedly held talks on easing passage through Hormuz.</p><p>Many residents of Tehran seemed indifferent to Trump&#x27;s threats.</p><p>In a large park in the west of the city, a group of young Iranians were having a picnic. Nearby, two friends were playing with a frisbee as techno music blared from a portable speaker.</p><p>One man was making the most of a windy day by flying his kite in front of the Milad Tower, an iconic landmark of Tehran.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Abandoned airport -</strong></div><p>US media reported on details of the rescue operation of the US airman, a weapons systems officer.</p><p>The New York Times said he was equipped with a pistol, a beacon and a secure communications device to coordinate with rescuers.</p><p>Two of the planes meant to transport him and his rescuers to safety were stuck in a remote base in Iran and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands, the New York Times and CBS reported.</p><p>US forces then used three other transport planes to carry the airman and his rescuers out of Iran, the reports said.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/4/white-house-seeks-1-5-t-defense-budget-as-iran-war-drives-costs-0751">READ: White House seeks $1.5-T defense budget as Iran war drives costs</a></div><p>Iran&#x27;s military said it had destroyed four US aircraft involved in the operation, which it said had made use of an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province.</p><p>Iranian media reported five people were killed in strikes during the operation.</p><p>Footage released by Iran&#x27;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was presented as showing charred wreckage of an American aircraft scattered across a desert area, with smoke still rising.</p><p>Trump hailed a &quot;miraculous Search and Rescue Operation&quot; and said it came &quot;in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation.&quot;</p><p>Iran has said its forces downed the fighter jet from which the crew ejected, while US media reported only that the plane had been shot down.</p><p>The US administration has not said publicly if it was downed or not.</p><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Choose peace&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/axlNoS8W48M?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Critical infrastructure across the Gulf came under attack from Iran again on Sunday, with damage reported at civilian facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.</p><p>Pro-Iran armed groups also carried out two attacks on US diplomatic sites in Iraq overnight, the US embassy in Baghdad said.</p><p>On another front, Lebanon has increasingly been drawn into the conflict since the Iran-backed Hezbollah group began targeting Israel.</p><p>Israel has struck back and pushed its ground forces into southern Lebanon.</p><p>A source from the Lebanese civil defence told AFP that an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon&#x27;s Kfar Hatta killed a family of six waiting to evacuate and a relative who had come to pick them up.</p><p>Another Israeli strike on south Beirut killed at least four people, the Lebanese health ministry said.</p><p>The war has cast a pall over Easter Sunday celebrations for Christian minorities in Lebanon and across the region.</p><p>In the usually lively alleyways of Jerusalem&#x27;s Old City, silence reigned on Sunday.</p><p>As a security precaution, Israeli authorities have restricted access to the Holy Sepulchre, where the faithful commemorate Christ&#x27;s crucifixion and resurrection.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s very hard for all of us because it&#x27;s our holiday... It&#x27;s really hard to want to pray but to come here and find nothing. Everything is closed,&quot; said Christina Toderas, 44, from Romania.</p><p>In his Easter blessing at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV urged &quot;those who have the power to unleash wars&quot; to &quot;choose peace&quot; instead and criticised global indifference to &quot;the deaths of thousands of people&quot;.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/5/pope-marks-first-easter-under-cloud-of-middle-east-war-1136">READ: Pope marks first Easter under cloud of Mideast war</a></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Bushehr nuclear plant -</strong></div><p>In Iran, a strike near the Bushehr nuclear plant on Saturday killed a guard and led Russia, which partly constructed the facility and helps operate it, to announce it was evacuating 198 workers and to condemn the strike as &quot;an evil deed&quot;.</p><p>Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that continued attacks on the plant on the southern coast could eventually lead to radioactive fallout that would &quot;end life in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) capitals, not Tehran&quot;.</p><p>Bushehr is considerably closer to Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar than it is to the Iranian capital.</p><p>Against the backdrop of war, Iran has kept up a crackdown weeks after it quelled a massive wave of anti-government protests, with the judiciary announcing the execution of two men convicted of acting on behalf of Israel and the United States.</p><p>On Sunday, communications monitor Netblocks said Iran&#x27;s internet blackout was now the longest nationwide shutdown in history.</p>

<p>US President Donald Trump threatened in an expletive-laden post on Sunday to strike Iran's power plants and bridges if it does not reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, after announcing the rescue of an airman in a "miraculous" operation.</p>

US President Donald Trump threatened in an expletive-laden post on Sunday to strike Iran's power plants and bridges if it does not reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, after announcing the rescue of an airman in a "miraculous" operation.

Trump threatens 'hell' for Iran over Strait of Hormuz

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Trump threatens 'hell' for Iran over Strait of Hormuz

AFP teams in Tehran,

Jerusalem,

Washington,

Beirut,

Dubai and Sanaa

Published April 06, 2026 02:18 AM PHT

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Iran

Israel

United States

Donald Trump

Middle East war

conflict

Strait of Hormuz

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