Experts and political commentators were stunned on Friday when a Trump official referred to a looming nuclear threat as “exciting times ahead.”
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Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum spoke with CNBC about the Iran war and argued that Americans would ultimately be better off for it.
“President Trump truly has set up America for an age of abundance — what we’re going to see coming out the backside of this — now with the threat of having a terrorist group having a nuclear weapon and their will to use it, their desire to use it, their stated desire to use that weapon, is again gonna be a game-changer for America and exciting times ahead,” Burgum said.
But the internet did not agree with his remarks.
“Love to invent incredibly unlikely threats, set off a massive war that does serious damage to U.S. interests at obscene fiscal costs to fight that incredibly unlikely threat, then declare victory on a claim that the incredibly unlikely threat now definitely won’t happen,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow of the American Immigration Council, wrote on X.
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“‘Exciting times’? bro that’s a terrifying way to describe nuclear terrorism. This ain’t a thriller movie — real people die. When did the potential end of millions of lives become something a government official calls exciting?” Qadir Khan Yousufzai, a journalist and columnist covering international security, wrote on X.
“To have such ignorant and arrogant ‘leaders’ is an affront to any country that considers itself civilized- let alone enlightened,” progressive political commentator Helen McGinnis wrote on Bluesky.
“He didn’t say that randomly – that was a scripted talking point. Pay attention to see if other administration officials say anything similar in the near future,” Erik the Rural Juror, a frequent political commentator with more than 25,000 followers, wrote on Bluesky.
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Love to invent incredibly unlikely threats, set off a massive war that does serious damage to U.S. interests at obscene fiscal costs to fight that incredibly unlikely threat, then declare victory on a claim that the incredibly unlikely threat now definitely won’t happen. https://t.co/sDR2fsGsgG
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) June 12, 2026
