Trump Threatens Iran, Warns of Dire 'Consequences'
*By Alisha Haridasani*
President Trump on Sunday lashed out against Iranian president Hassan Rouhani on Twitter, deepening the tension between the two countries.
“Never, ever threaten the United States again,” the president admonished in an all-caps [tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1021234525626609666). “You will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.”
Trump’s tweet followed Rouhani’s own incendiary message for the U.S., which warned the American president not to “play with the lion’s tail,” because a war with Iran would be the “mother of all wars.”
Throughout his presidency, Trump has decried America's softening relationship with Iran. In May, he withdrew from the landmark nuclear deal, agreed to in 2015 by Iran and a group of world powers, and reinstated sanctions against the country. Last month, the United States also explored sanctioning all of Iran’s oil exports.
Trump’s message to Iran echoes a tweet he addressed to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last year. Relations with North Korea took a surprising turn after that, culminating in a historic meeting between the two leaders in Singapore in June.
An ancient Christian mosaic bearing an early reference to Jesus as God is at the center of a controversy that has riled archaeologists: Should the centuries-old decorated floor, which is near what's believed to be the site of the prophesied Armageddon, be uprooted and loaned to a U.S. museum that has been criticized for past acquisition practices?
Congressional leaders are pitching a stopgap government funding package to avoid a federal shutdown after next month, acknowledging the House and Senate are nowhere near agreement on spending levels to keep federal operations running.
The new Emerson poll of Republican voters shows former President Donald Trump far ahead of his rivals for the 2024 nomination, but for the first time, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has surpassed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
A former high-ranking FBI counterintelligence official pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia by going to work, after he retired, for an oligarch he once investigated.
Donald Trump has now been indicted in a fourth case, with the former president being charged Monday in Georgia over his efforts to overturn his 2020 general election defeat in the state.