REMOVAL

APRIL 7, 2026 – At the conclusion of an altogether satisfactory appointment this afternoon, the good doctor wished me well and added, “Let’s hope the world doesn’t end this evening.” The implicit reference underlying his apocryphal statement, of course, was to Trump’s 8:00 EDT deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 have we engaged in such talk. And not since then has the world sat on the ostensible precipice of Armageddon. That we can now exhale, however, isn’t the end of the story.

First, let’s take stock of the “deal” that Mr. Trump has struck with Iran: A two-week cease fire in exchange for re-opening the Strait of Hormuz. Fine. The self-anointed “dealmaker” can pretend he’s scored a home run, a touchdown, a penalty shot soccer goal, a slap-shot hockey goal, and a three-pointer breaking a tie at the final buzzer—all at precisely the same moment. But let’s not forget that before said dealmaker pulled the trigger on his war against Iran . . . the Strait of Hormuz had been open for decades (with only partial disclosures prior to that). Thus, apart from:

1. The loss of several thousand lives from Tehran to Tyre;
2. Displacement of over a million people in southern Lebanon and doubtless creation of a whole new generation of jihadists threatening Israel and peace throughout the Middle East;
3. The cost of U.S. military expenditures at $2 billion a day since the outset of the war;
4. Destruction of major oil and gas infrastructure across the Middle East, which to replace, will suck 10s of billions of dollars from other investments and take years to complete;
5. Disruption of life in countries largely dependent on oil transshipped through the Strait; the pass-through inflationary effects of higher oil, fertilizer, food and distribution costs;
6. The likely bankruptcy of many farmers around the world and outright famine in other parts; and
7. Replacement of a hard-core theocracy in Iran with a regime even more extreme and stridently anti-Israel and anti-America and even more intent on developing nuclear weapons to discourage a recurrence of an attack by what have become the most “rogue nations” in the world . . .

. . . apart from all those costs and downsides, Trump’s “deal” to achieve a cease-fire in his impulsive and irresponsible war against Iran has accomplished nothing more than to restore us to the status quo ante.

Thus, at this juncture in the story, we Americans and our Israeli allies—forget the rest of the world, as apparently Trump and Netanyahu have—are far worse off and far less safe than we were at the beginning of the war.

Early this afternoon, I figured there was at least a fifty-fifty chance that Trump would find a way not to cause “[a] whole civilization to die tonight, never to be brought back again.” But however his step back from the brink is now couched or characterized by White House spin-masters, nothing—not words, not actions, nothing—can alter the plain fact that Trump said what he said, and not flippantly over a poker game with lackeys and whiskey (for the lackeys, anyway) in his private quarters at Mar-A-Lago; not in a “hot mike” setting at a fund-raising dinner for billionaire contributors to Republican house and senate campaigns; not aboard his golf cart while talking to himself . . . no. His genocidal remarks, punched out in a lengthy text, were intentionally broadcast to the world.

That stunt—not to mention the dumpster load of other Trump-affronts that have denigrated humanity and degraded the human experience—is (are) quite enough to invoke the 25^th Amendment. As Trump himself said yesterday (of the mullahs), “No crazy person should be allowed to have his hands on nuclear weapons.”

The imperative here isn’t retribution, it’s removal; removal of an autocrat whose mental state, psychological condition, and other malfunctions of an ice-encrusted heart, frozen brain and empty soul leave him with no regard for anyone but himself. He is a debased creature with an insatiable thirst for unrivaled recognition—the world and its people be damned. Such a monster masquerading as a human being poses a real and present danger to every living soul on earth. By the ballot box in November—and giving Democrats sufficient majorities in both chambers of Congress—we must ensure that Trump impeached and convicted as soon as practicable after the new Congress is in session. The future of America requires it.

In lieu of retribution against all those who’ve empowered, encouraged and acquiesced in Trump’s reign of destruction, the new Democratic majority must organize and execute a plan of accountability.

Finally, we must communicate to the world, especially our allies, and above all, to ourselves and our political heirs, that never again will America be the biggest, most dangerous rogue nuclear nation on earth. No one will trust our words until they trust our penance, and they won’t trust our penance except by way of our actions.

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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson