Trump Threatens Bombing 'At Much Higher Level' If No Deal — Claims Hostilities 'Terminated' to Sidestep War Powers Deadline — Day 68

President Trump issued his most explicit escalation threat in weeks on May 6, 2026 — Day 68 — declaring he would bomb Iran 'at a much higher level and intensity than before the ceasefire' if no deal was reached. The threat directly contradicted the diplomatic signals Trump himself sent just one day earlier when he paused Project Freedom citing 'great progress.' Trump made the escalation threat while simultaneously claiming, for the second time, that hostilities between the US and Iran had been 'terminated' — a legal framing designed to sidestep the congressional War Powers Resolution 60-day reporting requirement and avoid an AUMF vote. PBS NewsHour reported the claim directly, noting constitutional law experts immediately rejected the argument that a ceasefire 'terminates' hostilities under the WPR. Trump's dual messaging — threatening escalation to extreme force while declaring the war over — reflected the high-stakes diplomatic brinkmanship he was deploying to pressure Iran into finalizing a deal before the informal diplomatic window closed. The ceasefire and naval blockade both technically remained in effect on Day 68, but Iran's receipt of the escalation threat came at a sensitive juncture: Pakistan was simultaneously reporting the two sides were 'closing in on a one-page memo' to formalize the ceasefire and Hormuz arrangement — potentially the first formal written agreement since the February 28 outbreak.