This is the April 7, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

President Donald Trump, threatening Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face massive strikes 

CHART OF THE DAY

ON THIS DATE

In 2022, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the Supreme Court after a 53-47 vote in the Senate, becoming the first Black woman ever to serve on the bench. 

A CONVERSATION WITH JAKE SULLIVAN

President Donald Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. ET tonight to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — or face massive strikes against civilian infrastructure. As the deadline approaches, former national security adviser Jake Sullivan joined “Morning Joe” to discuss the risks of escalation, the limits of military force, and the urgent need for a diplomatic off-ramp. 

JS: By the most basic reading of international law, would what the president is threatening tonight constitute war crimes? 

Sullivan: The way this is being set up, the answer is a straightforward yes — because it would be punitive. He’s not going after a power plant because it’s a pure military target that’s fueling the war machine against the United States. He’s doing it to punish Iran and its people — to try and get them to quit.

MB: What happens to the Iranian people in all of this? 

Sullivan: The Iranian people have basically been written out of this story. These brave people who went to the streets in huge numbers across the country to claim their freedom and dignity — who were gunned down by the tens of thousands — now have to be hunkered down, worried their civilian infrastructure is going to be destroyed.

JS: The president says Iranians would accept that suffering for freedom. Is that grounded in reality? 

Sullivan: What’s so cynical about this is, if you go back to the beginning, it was President Trump who said to the Iranian people, “Help is on the way.” He told them we would have their back if they went out. And they went out — and died in large numbers. Now we’re talking about policies that would make their lives even worse without actually delivering that freedom.

JS: You’ve sat across the table from these negotiators. With hours to go, is there any real path to a deal?

Sullivan: There could be, but they’re going to drive a hard bargain. It was difficult to negotiate when you were actually in person, and it’s that much harder when you’re doing it indirectly, through third parties, with both sides staking out maximalist public positions.

MB: When you hear this kind of rhetoric — threats, ultimatums, even framing this in almost religious terms — does that help or hurt the chances of diplomacy?

Sullivan: If you think about this regime, it has built its entire identity on resisting America. It also comes from a proud culture that does not like being lectured to or threatened. So this strategy of constant saber-rattling, maximalist public demands, statements like unconditional surrender — this is not helping.

It actually plays into their hands. These guys are theocrats themselves, and the idea of a holy war against the United States is core to their identity. It reinforces their argument to their own people — and makes diplomacy harder, not easier.

And you know who understands that better than anyone? Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. China has been trying for a long time to drive a wedge between the United States and our allies — and now Donald Trump is doing the work for them.

JS: With the clock ticking toward 8 p.m., if you were advising the president right now, what’s the least bad option?

Sullivan: It’s really difficult, given where we are, because the military options at this point are very bad. A ground operation would only get us in deeper, cost American lives, and not solve the problem. This is a reason to get a diplomatic off-ramp — even something informal — to bring this war to an end.

My guess is that behind the scenes, messages are getting passed that are a little closer to reality on both sides. But there is still a very big gap — and the Iranians are looking for one thing: clarity that we’re not going to stop today and just start again in a week or a month.

JS: How does a president get to the point where he thinks he can ignore all the lessons of history — and act this way in the Middle East?

Sullivan: His appetite grew with his eating. He saw what happened after strikes like Fordow and the Maduro raid [in Venezuela] and concluded he could act with impunity — and now we’re all paying the price for that.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

EXTRA HOT TEA

62%

— The share of New Yorkers who can’t afford to live in their own city. A new study from the Mayor’s Office finds a median childless family needs more than $106,000 to get by. With children, that number jumps to $160,000.

ONE MORE SHOT

LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK

The Artemis II crew captured this image showing the rings of the Orientale basin, one of the moon’s youngest and best-preserved large impact craters, per NASA. A smaller crater to the left of the basin will be named Carroll — after mission commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, who passed away in 2022.

“It’s a bright spot on the moon, and we’d like to call it Carroll,” mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told mission control. 

“Loud and clear,” mission control responded.

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