Both President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referenced a disturbing phrase on Wednesday while describing the U.S. military’s attacks on Iran.
“We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong,” Trump said during a primetime address while threatening to hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”
“Back to the Stone Age,” Hegseth echoed in a post on X shortly after the speech.
The hawkish and dehumanizing comments added to the threats that Trump has repeatedly issued toward Iran since the start of U.S. airstrikes on Feb. 28.
On Wednesday, Trump again said he would target Iranian energy infrastructure if no deal was reached to end the war. He’s also suggested the U.S. could attack the country’s desalination facilities, fueling concerns that he would intentionally decimate civilian infrastructure and commit a war crime. (Iran has also responded with its own combative warnings.)
