---
title: "Trump's war crime campaign, explained by an expert"
date: "2026-04-04"
newsletter: aaronrupar
esp: substack
word_count: 831
has_sponsored_content: false
rad_version: "1.1"
---
# Trump's war crime campaign, explained by an expert

### "People have long memories when it comes to atrocity crimes."

[Aaron Rupar](https://substack.com/@aaronrupar) and [Thor Benson](https://substack.com/@thorbensonzeteo)

Apr 4

∙

Preview

[![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sz4D!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd19a0e3-6836-47e9-90ea-b050da2eb5ad_261x261.jpeg)](https://substack.com/@aaronrupar) [![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!e1Y1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9e5921c-4fc5-483c-a1b9-814a006fd225_400x400.jpeg)](https://substack.com/@thorbensonzeteo)      

[![Pete Hegseth: "Back to the Stone Age."](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aclW!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5135fa6-36fb-4fe7-a958-662a8be25d55_684x322.png%20%22Pete%20Hegseth:%20%22Back%20to%20the%20Stone%20Age.%22%22)](https://substack.com/redirect/4658aa8b-8b15-4ed6-a079-56be51d8a0f0?j=eyJ1IjoiODNyNXpsIn0.vxk1WbrBRvLyQhJTQiJHcdJl-HhP9THVSZ00rP%5Frszg) 

([X](https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/2039520449483145622))

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During his dystopian primetime address to the nation on Wednesday, President Trump threatened that if Iran doesn’t make a deal, “we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously.”

“There's not a thing they could do about it,” he added. 

[ ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sz4D!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd19a0e3-6836-47e9-90ea-b050da2eb5ad_261x261.jpeg) Aaron Rupar 2dTrump: "If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously ... there's not a thing they could do about it" ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6wyL!,w_1100,h_618,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/l_play_button_usfui2,w_144,e_colorize:0/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-video.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fvideo_upload%2Fuser%2F696120%2Fe1cd0fad-b0e6-42a7-a8ed-121f6243a125%2Ftranscoded-00001.png) ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3xM!,w_32,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FLucideHeart%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D32%26fill%3Dnone%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D3)112 ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!83cs!,w_32,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2Fnotes__NoteCommentIcon%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D32%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D3%26strokeLinecap%3Dround%26strokeLinejoin%3Dround) ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!srGw!,w_32,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2Fnotes__NoteRestackIcon%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D32%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D3%26strokeLinecap%3Dround%26strokeLinejoin%3Dround)17 ](https://substack.com/profile/696120-aaron-rupar/note/c-236908026)

Those comments prompted Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to post the “back to the Stone Age” tweet you can see at the top of this post. And Trump went even further on Thursday, first in a Truth Social post bragging about blowing up a bridge (a strike that [reportedly](https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c36r5p1l7w3t) killed at least eight civilians) and then in another post [threatening even worse crimes](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mikpfyqyps25) to come.

![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/avatar/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreibmhm3h6ar52pogvolisrzjdhwa2myras5vkxzj67twxn2l6pogwu)Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com

Trump: “The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreiah5jqbs3df667p6l5mf7vjv6sbygui3azt34fsna674amcwpvova)

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:46:52 GMT

[View on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3mijntcpcns2y?ref_src=embed)

As former State Department lawyer Brian Finucane pointed out when Trump made a similar threat days earlier, attacking civilian infrastructure as part of a punishment campaign is a textbook war crime.

![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/avatar/plain/did:plc:oqexhdqbizq24v6ikjhhig2h/bafkreiapelhk3qhyuccvziogukmg5upyt2jxqy6oi2uxi4sj3sbmk4mqv4)Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social

The categorical and retributive framing of this threat to attack Iranian infrastructure makes clear that this a threat to commit war crimes.

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 11:51:02 GMT

[View on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:oqexhdqbizq24v6ikjhhig2h/post/3miblvktwac2t?ref_src=embed)

The uncomfortable truth is that Trump and his henchmen’s disdain for the rule of law extends to the laws of war. Trump has been talking about pillaging the natural resources of other countries for [at least 20 years](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/21/donald-trump-iraq-war-oil-strategy-seizure-isis), and Hegseth rails against “stupid rules of engagement” at every opportunity.

[ ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sz4D!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd19a0e3-6836-47e9-90ea-b050da2eb5ad_261x261.jpeg) Aaron Rupar 1moHegseth: "Death and destruction from the sky all day long. We're playing for keeps. Our warfighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly. Our rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it ... we are punching them while they are down" ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6VZn!,w_1100,h_618,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/l_play_button_usfui2,w_144,e_colorize:0/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-video.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fvideo_upload%2Fuser%2F696120%2F023a37a7-3a45-4cb3-a906-93429350b253%2Ftranscoded-00001.png) ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3xM!,w_32,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FLucideHeart%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D32%26fill%3Dnone%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D3)147 ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!83cs!,w_32,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2Fnotes__NoteCommentIcon%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D32%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D3%26strokeLinecap%3Dround%26strokeLinejoin%3Dround) ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!srGw!,w_32,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2Fnotes__NoteRestackIcon%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D32%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D3%26strokeLinecap%3Dround%26strokeLinejoin%3Dround)38 ](https://substack.com/profile/696120-aaron-rupar/note/c-222862058)

Now, however, Trump and Hegseth are doing much worse than just talking about war crimes. Their strategy in Iran, to the extent there is one, seems to involve literally bombing the country into dust. 

To get some expert perspective on war crimes and the to which extent the Trump regime is committing them, we connected with Finucane, who now works as a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group. He made a case that Trump’s illegal campaign against Iran flows from the raid in Venezuela in which the US military captured Nicolás Maduro.

“The Venezuela invasion was a patent violation of the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force, and the administration never even really put forward a justification under international law for it,” he said. “But I think one of the most substantial implications of it is that it emboldened President Trump to undertake other military adventures in contravention of both US and international law, mainly in Iran. But for the perceived tactical success of Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela, I don’t think the US would be at war with Iran.”

[![Don Moynihan on "Purge, Merge, and Surge"](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-KMr!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0527c52c-4551-421d-bd9e-732336014f11_4168x2779.jpeg)](https://substack.com/redirect/dfb66f5c-7a37-48c6-89e9-330ac7b1edf8?j=eyJ1IjoiODNyNXpsIn0.vxk1WbrBRvLyQhJTQiJHcdJl-HhP9THVSZ00rP%5Frszg)

#### [Don Moynihan on "Purge, Merge, and Surge"](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/don-moynihan-interview-purge-merge-surge)

[Aaron Rupar](https://substack.com/profile/696120-aaron-rupar) and [Thor Benson](https://substack.com/profile/3455464-thor-benson)

·

November 8, 2025

[ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/don-moynihan-interview-purge-merge-surge) 

Finucane also detailed ways in which Trump and his henchmen might be engaged in war crimes in Iran.

“The ‘[no quarter](https://www.axios.com/2026/03/15/trump-hegseth-iran-war-no-quarter)’ declaration from Secretary Hegseth was obvious, because the denial of quarter and the declaration of such is a war crime,” he said. “We’ve also seen threats from the president in recent days to attack power plants in Iran. Targeting civilian objects would be a war crime.”

A full transcript of the conversation between Finucane and Public Notice contributor Thor Benson, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows. If you’d like to read it but aren’t already a paid subscriber, please sign up to support our work. Paid subscribers make this newsletter possible and help keep the vast majority of what we publish free for everyone.

**Thor Benson...**

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