President Trump lashed out Thursday morning over the widespread and withering criticism of his deal to end the Iran war, much of it coming from his own party.
Trump signed the negotiated 14-point “memorandum of understanding” with Iran on Wednesday while at a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at Versailles, a setting that some have suggested is freighted with historic irony, given that it was also where Germany officially surrendered in 1919 to end World War I.
Critics have lambasted Trump’s agreement with Iran as an American surrender, a humiliation for Trump and “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
Trump pushed back in an early morning social media post as he returned from the G7 summit in France. “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,” he wrote.
That did not stop the GOP critics of the deal, many of whom focused on the plan to establish a $300 billion redevelopment fund for Iran, which U.S. officials insist won’t involve U.S. funds.
“History demonstrates that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is an exceptionally bad idea, and I think unfortunately the president is receiving some really bad advice on this deal,” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also came out against Trump’s deal.
“I am concerned that the memorandum of understanding negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the President’s goals,” Wicker said in a statement Thursday. “Specifically, 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 added that he opposes lifting sanctions on Iran or unfreezing Iranian funds in exchange for only an agreement to continue negotiations for 60 days and believes it would be an error to require Israel to stand down in its fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Wicker’s comments came a day after Sen. Bill Cassidy pilloried Trump over the deal, writing on social media that Ronald Reagan “is rolling over in his grave.” Cassidy, who lost his primary election after being targeted by Trump, has become more outspoken in criticizing the president since his defeat.
“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,” Cassidy wrote in a Wednesday post on X. “Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal. Before the war, the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions, and 13 service members were still alive. Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped. This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
Trump himself provided additional fuel for his critics during a Wednesday news conference at the G7 summit. While he claimed that the deal with Iran “achieves everything we set out to accomplish — everything and much more” by reopening the Strait of Hormuz and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Trump acknowledged to reporters that the agreement does not end Iran’s ballistic missile capability.
He also indicated that he agreed to the deal out of concern that continuing the conflict would have damaged the economy. “I didn't want to see economic catastrophe,” Trump said. “If you kept this going, that could have happened. But all I know is every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship.”
He added that he did not want to be remembered like Herbert Hoover, who presided over the beginning of the Great Depression. “Rather than possibly going into a depression, rather than having your favorite president be Herbert Hoover — that was always the one I didn't want to be,” Trump said.
One House Republican reportedly told Politico that economic fears had driven Trump’s decision. “The president didn't mean to, but he effectively acknowledged he lost the war. It's no longer worth the economic price. This is the way out, as ugly as it is,” the unnamed Republican said.
The bottom line: The deal Trump signed will lead to 60 days of negotiations toward a “final” agreement, and the thorniest issues have yet to be hashed out. In the meantime, many lawmakers and analysts say that Iran hasn’t had to concede much so far but is getting considerable benefits from Trump’s agreement.