President Donald Trump is on the precipice of surrender in his second Iran war, according to some of his most devoted supporters. At issue is a proposed 60-day ceasefire that in theory would open the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade as the two sides work on a broader nuclear deal. The president himself is giving mixed signals. On Saturday, he said he was very close to an agreement. On Sunday, he said he had told his team “not to rush into a deal” and posted an AI-generated image of a precision-guided munition emblazoned with “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Leaks in the press suggest that the U.S.-Iran agreement would compel Trump to give Iran an economic lifeline in exchange for opening the strait. Republicans have panned the early reported details of the deal. Senator Ted Cruz posted on X that the war would be a “disastrous mistake” if it ended with “an Iranian regime—still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’—now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz.”
Trump’s former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said early reports of the agreement “seem straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook,” referencing three senior Obama administration officials who helped craft the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. This prompted White House director of communications Stephen Cheung to implore Pompeo to “shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals.”
But Trump is hearing it from all parts of his coalition. Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Sunday warned the president via X that the Iranian regime is lying, and that the $25 billion that the U.S. is reportedly offering in sanctions relief and unfrozen assets would be paying “tribute” to a terrorist regime. Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, posted Saturday on X: “The rumored 60-day ceasefire—with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith—would be a disaster.” Meanwhile, Senator Lindsey Graham has warned throughout the weekend that ending the war now would give Iran a victory they did not earn on the battlefield.
