WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, including top national security figures, were voicing strong reservations Thursday —- and some outright condemnation — of the Trump administration's agreement to end the fighting in Iran.
The memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump started a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. While Trump allies noted the agreement is not final,
the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran’s sale of oil and the plan for a $300 billion fund to rebuild Iran and its economy were met with criticism from Republican leaders and conservative influencers, including some close Trump supporters.
“President Trump has pursued peace through strength. I hope the intermediaries working on this deal are not undermining that objective,” said Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who has urged Trump to keep up the pressure on Iran and last month warned against striking a bad deal.
“The $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran — though not funded by U.S. taxpayers — would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison,” Wicker said, referring to the Democratic administration's Iran agreement that Trump withdrew from during his first term.
The criticism from within Trump’s own party — though hardly unanimous — comes as he is trying to bring an end to the unpopular war fewer than five months from midterm elections, where Republicans are facing headwinds in their effort to hold their narrow majorities.
Wicker’s points were backed by a number of his colleagues, many of whom supported the war when it began.
“History demonstrates giving billions of dollars to the theocratic lunatics who want to kill you is an exceptionally bad idea," said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a staunch supporter of the war. “And so I hope we don’t do that.”
Trump on Truth Social called his critics “fools” and said the $300 billon payment to Iran by the United States is “fake news.” The interim pact promises a $300 billion fund for postwar reconstruction. It’s not clear where that money will come from — but Trump said, as Wicker noted, the U.S. would not contribute.
“All there is for the U.S. is Success, Lower Oil Prices, and Victory,” he posted.
As the memorandum was released to Congress on Thursday, several Republican senators said it left them with questions, many of them about its financial provisions.
Majority Leader John Thune and South Dakota colleague Sen. Mike Rounds were seeking clarity on how financial incentives to Iran and conditions barring funding terrorism would be enforced, because “right now, a lot of money's going to go to Iran,” Rounds said.
To be sure, there were Republicans more closely aligned with Trump's America First policies in the Senate and elsewhere who were giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Sen. Roger Marshall stressed the point in the memorandum that supporters say gives the U.S. the upper hand. In a social media post, the Kansas Republican said one of the most important provisions “lays out a key commitment that strengthens regional security and ensures that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
Louisiana GOP Senate candidate John Fleming, who has focused on Trump's most loyal supporters ahead of a June 27 Republican primary runoff, said that means Trump has suggested that the U.S. will strike Iran again if it does not live up to the agreement.
“The criticism may be worthy if there isn't follow-through,” Fleming said. “He's using the speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick in offering them plenty of help, but at the same time he's got that stick ready if they don't live up to their agreements."
Still, some of Trump's strongest supporters in conservative media have warned against the agreement.
Conservative radio host Mark Levin suggested a strategic rethinking to hold off on an agreement with Iran until after the midterms.
“We should consider slow-walking the enemy, building up our munitions, our oil reserves, get the price of gasoline down, get through the midterms, then knock them out,” he said in a social media post. Instead, the U.S. seemed to be “rushing to a deal, building up their oil industry” and agreeing to governments “transferring billions to them.”
Right-wing social media influencer Laura Loomer, who has long supported Trump while also promoting conspiracy theories, was more pointed in her criticism.
“Who is giving the President tainted, pro-Islamic intel?” she posted on X.
What all the critics shared is an abiding distrust of the Iranian regime, no matter their relationship to Trump.
“It does smack of the kind of appeasement," said former Vice President Mike Pence, whose relationship with Trump was fractured after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “Bottom line. I don’t trust the Iranians.”
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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
