Berani dalam Benar: What an unshameful state of arrogance (USA), Mr President? Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, April 9, 2026

 

Berani dalam Benar: What an unshameful state of arrogance (USA), Mr President?

 

In the fourth month of 2026, we were exposed to a bizarre kind of leadership that has not been “known” from the longest period. Not coincidentally, it took place on April's Fool night, coinciding with the first direct US President prime-time address to the American public, since the (il)legal launching of the Operation Epic Fury on February 28. After more than a month of the war-mongering, the purpose of the “attack” on Iran is still vague, if not manipulative. According to some observations, such prime-time speech is delivered at the start of a conflict in a solemn way to build trust and confidence. Unlike that of Trump who was seen in video wearing a baseball cap, dressed short of a presidential protocol. In the 19-minute stint, it was made known that the US aims to crush Iran's military, end the clerical state's support for regional armed groups and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear bomb. "Over the next two to three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong," Trump emphasised.  This is implied to "hit each and every one of their electric generating plants," despite being reminded that attacks on civilian energy infrastructure are widely considered to be illegal under the laws of war and could constitute a war crime. In summary, to quote, Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy: "Anyone watching that speech has no idea whether Trump is escalating or de-escalating the war with Iran." Later he reiterated that the entire country can be taken down in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night, referring to April 9th.

Unsurprisingly, as the war drags his desperation grows as his approval rating tumbled to “new lows and Americans feeling a pinch from soaring oil prices.” So much so, a recent petition aimed at seeing Donald Trump removed from office is reported gaining steam in the US. “Greed, corruption, and a lack of accountability in leadership have run rampant under Donald Trump's administration,” explained by a group on 'Change.org'. It is calling for Trump and his administration to be held accountable for the attack on the American people and for repeatedly violating the US Constitution.  It has nearly doubled in size since reaching its first big milestone in January 2026. The petition in question was created by the non-partisan grassroots group ‘Blackout the System’ on December 17th, 2025, and has garnered significant national attention since. It has been popular in news headlines. The petition is set to reach its next major milestone, 200,000 verified signatures. As of April 1st, the petition is said to have just over 198,000 verified signatures. 

“Donald Trump’s actions and policies have real consequences, and it is our duty to unite and push our government towards justice. We must remind those in power of their obligation to uphold justice, fairness, and empathy,” Blackout the System explained. Of late, Reuters/Ipsos polling conducted from March 27th to the 29th found that a stunning 60% of the 1,021 American adults it surveyed disapproved of US strikes on Iran, while just 35% said they approved of the attacks. In addition, new polling from the Pew Research Center found that Americans broadly disapprove of the war with Iran. Six in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran and another 59% told pollsters that they disagree that the use of military force was wrong. 

Regardless, as moments to bomb Iran 'back to the Stone Ages' approaches, Trump is not shy from issuing another “epic” threat to Tehran, using unpresidential expletive-laden social media message during Easter Sunday in which he ordered the Iranians to “Open the F***in’ Strait, you b******s”. This came out after stating that "a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again". "I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will," as Trump affirmed in a post on his Truth Social platform.

All these have overshadowed NASA's Artemis 2 moon mission (also launched on April's Fool Day). More so on the journey back to Mother Earth, after a 10-day lunar flyby with four exceptional astronauts, the first of its kind, beyond the Apollo lunar landing. Among many new findings, the Artemis 2 expedition has captured the first ever photograph of Earth rising above the far side of the Moon, which is never visible from Earth. "We saw sights that no human has ever seen, not even Apollo, and that was amazing for us," admitted Commander Reid Wiseman. Trump rightly told the astronauts that they had "made history and made all America really proud, incredibly proud" after completing the flyby. Indeed, deservedly so to keep the entire human population in unison with much hope for the future.

Apparently, he forgot to mention that the alleged repeated threats against “a whole civilisation” as the ultimatum to reopen the Straits of Hormuz which expires no later by tomorrow, is also another history in the making, that no human has seen in recent times. Wondering if Artemis 2 could provide us a "outer space view" of erasing the "whole civilisation" at the same time! Trump's unpresidential vulgar remarks have shocked and awed the entire world, not least the Americans who cannot be “really proud, incredibly proud,” especially after 250 years of the so-called of USA Independence in 1876, transforming it to a mere United Stone Age thanks to the current leadership based on his arrogance about civilisational wisdom. We will wait and see!