During the G7 conference on Wednesday, Donald Trump told reporters that while “nobody knows what it is,” his supposed deal with Iran “is very strong and most people seem to be very happy.”
The deal, which is actually a 14-point “memorandum of understanding,”
was made public hours later. It addresses virtually none of the Trump administration’s stated goals for the war, leaving many key points to be decided later. It calls for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts,” including Lebanon, where Israel has been launching strikes, and for Iran to use its “best efforts” to open the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, and to not charge fees for 60 days. U.S. sanctions against Iran will be lifted, and the U.S. will work with regional partners to secure $300 billion in reconstruction funds for Iran.
The memo calls for a final deal to be agreed upon in the next 60 days, although the deadline could be extended. Trump has made pains to insist the deal isn’t final. “It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head,” Trump said on Wednesday. “If I don’t like it, if they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head.”
Many Republicans and right-wing commentators are not happy with the proposed deal.
“Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — who will leave the Senate next year after losing his primary to a Trump-backed challenger — wrote on X. “Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), echoed the sentiment, telling reporters: “History teaches that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is not a good idea. I think the president is receiving some very poor advice on this deal.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who like Cassidy will not be in the Senate next year, was a little more measured, calling the deal neither “great” nor “bad,” but noted that $300 billion potentially going to Iran is “concerning” and that the U.S. appears to be “equivocating” on some of the administration’s goals pertaining to Iran’s nuclear program.
Ben Shapiro, the right-wing commentator who has been a loyal soldier to Trump’s Middle Eastern military incursions, was not so measured. The Daily Wire founder had a full-blown conniption over the memorandum of understanding. Shapiro cast most of the blame on Vice President J.D. Vance, and zeroed in on reports that Israel had not been a party to the negotiations, that the U.S. and its Gulf allies would establish a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, and that the deal will allow Iran to continue to exert financial control over the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’ve been hearing from the White House, from the president that the war is over, the deal is done, but that isn’t actually the reality. It’s just not real. The White House itself acknowledges this,” Shapiro said on his Wednesday broadcast. “If we release funds, or if we tell our Arab Gulf state allies to release funds to Iran, it doesn’t have to be American taxpayer dollars, that is us releasing money to Iran. If you unfreeze money to a terrorist group, that is in fact money going to a terrorist group.”
In a separate appearance on Fox News, Shapiro called the proposed deal between Iran and the U.S. a “disaster that does not achieve any of the signal goals that were set by the administration.”
“There were effectively five goals that were set by the administration at the beginning. One was ending the nuclear program — not just nuclear weapons, no nuclear enrichment — zero enrichment. That is not in the deal. ‘Ballistic missiles ended,’ that is not in the deal, and the president today suggested that ballistic missiles should actually continue to be held by the Iranians.”
Even the Murdoch-owned New York Post — a consistent supporter of the president and right-wing causes — came out against the deal. Thursday’s cover of the national newspaper featured a burning American flag under the headline “LOVEBOMB: Prez says Islamic regime ‘not radical,’ his deal showers mullahs with cash — and no sanctions.”
Other prominent right-wing influencers including Will Chamberlain, Richard Hanania, and Piers Morgan criticized the deal on social media. The deal is “absolutely terrible,” Chamberlain wrote. “There’s no getting around it.”
Trump seems to have noticed the blowback. The president took to Truth Social early Thursday morning to complain: “These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are ‘tumbling’ down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid.”
The message is just steeped in confidence following a job well done, isn’t it?
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