President Trump threatened to wipe out the entirety of Iranian civilization if Tehran doesn’t cede to his demands by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Said Trump: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

Axios: “Trump might be the most hawkish person in the top echelons of his administration on Iran, according to a U.S. source who spoke to him several times in recent days.”

Said one U.S. official: “The president is the most bloodthirsty, like a mad dog.”

“Trump has started sounding out advisers and confidants about the plan to strike power plants and bridges by asking them, ‘What do you think of Infrastructure Day?'”

Wall Street Journal: “As President Trump threatens a major escalation in Iran by a Tuesday night deadline, the Republican-led Congress is out of the picture. Lawmakers are on a holiday recess, and won’t return to Washington until next week.”

“But some Republican lawmakers have set a deadline of their own that is approaching at the end of this month: They say federal law requires the president to seek approval from Congress if military operations in Iran last longer than 60 to 90 days.”

“Crowning a year of disputes with the Trump administration over trade tariffs, support for Ukraine and the future of Greenland, the Iran war has placed America’s friends in Europe, Asia and the Middle East in front of an uneasy dilemma,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Their most important ally is acting in ways that they see as erratic and that have already caused hardship and uncertainty. The war has sapped their economies and even bigger shocks loom if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, deepening the worldwide energy crisis.”

“Many—on both sides of the Atlantic—wonder if they are even allies anymore.”