Both President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referenced a disturbing phrase on Wednesday while describing the U.S. military’s attacks on Iran.

“We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong,” Trump said during a primetime address while threatening to hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”

“Back to the Stone Age,” Hegseth echoed in a post on X shortly after the speech.

The hawkish and dehumanizing comments added to the threats that Trump has repeatedly issued toward Iran since the start of U.S. airstrikes on Feb. 28.

On Wednesday, Trump again said he would target Iranian energy infrastructure if no deal was reached to end the war. He’s also suggested the U.S. could attack the country’s desalination facilities, fueling concerns that he would intentionally decimate civilian infrastructure and commit a war crime. (Iran has also responded with its own combative warnings.)

“Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday

The phrase “back to the Stone Age” has been linked to Gen. Curtis LeMay, the Air Force Chief of Staff during World War II, who was known for deploying so many bombs on Japan that places were reduced to depopulated rubble, The American Prospect reported. It’s an idea that ultimately dehumanizes the people that it’s used against, and suggests that certain countries have the right to demolish the societies that other countries have built in the name of warfare.

In an interview with The Washington Post, LeMay disputed how his comments were characterized.

“I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. I said we had the capability to do it. I want to save lives on both sides,” he said.

Trump’s use of the phrase underscores how his administration has latched onto such rhetoric – and embraced potential large-scale destruction at civilians’ expense – in its handling of the war on Iran.

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.