Surrender
With an eye on the mid-term election, Trump caves to Iran
I have now read the 14 point Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran. It is as clear as blue sky that Trump’s war was a failure, that the US reputation around the world is in tatters and we are led by an exhausted 80-year-old desperate to protect whatever legacy he has left.
To compare this deal to the one Obama negotiated is an embarrassment. Let’s go back. In 2015, the Obama administration, in the form of serious diplomats and negotiators, signed a deal with Iran. It was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). And it was signed not just by the US and Iran but several other world powers.
Here is what it accomplished:
Enriched Uranium Limits: Capped Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile at 300 kilograms and restricted enrichment levels to 3.67%, well below the threshold needed for weapons-grade material.
Facility Redesign: Required the redesign of the Arak heavy-water reactor to prevent the production of weapons-grade plutonium.
Inspections: Mandated robust, long-term access and monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Sanctions Relief: Lifted international, European, and U.S. nuclear-related sanctions, unfreezing billions of dollars in Iranian assets
Trump’s people came up with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which means nothing except an agreement to negotiate the hard stuff over the next 60 days.
This MOU, while not binding, talks about the following:
Open the Straight of Hormuz so oil can flow. (Already happened under Obama)
Iran agrees not to build a nuclear weapon. (Already happened under Obama)
Iran gets to sell oil. (Already happened under Obama)
Iran gets $300 billion to rebuild after US bombing. (Trump called Obama a weak son of a bitch for giving Iran far less money. You know that this money will go right to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which will rebuild its military and hurt the Iranian people.)
Immediate termination of Israeli war in Lebanon.
Other issues like a ballistic missile program - which Trump the US “obliterated’’ and how much uranium Iran gets to keep will be worked out in the next 60 days.
So to summarize:
the US spent 90 billion in a war that killed the Iranian leadership, leaving hard liners in place.
We promised to support reform and even revolution in Iran, urging citizens to take back their government. We have now abandoned them.
We gave up the moral high ground by killing innocent school children in the early bombing and have taken no responsibility for that act.
We leave in place an emboldened Iran to keep fueling terrorism around the region. They now know that Trump is weak and that the Straight of Hormuz can be used a bargaining chip. Get ready to pay tolls for oil to get ships through there.
In short, the JCPOA deal under Obama was far better. Trump killed it for cheap bragging rights and is now trying to put it back together. The Iranians know that.
Trump is hanging responsibility for this failure around the neck of JD Vance, who is trying to explain it away while he promotes his unserious new book.
Even Republican senators are growing some spine and criticizing the deal. Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana and even Ted Cruz.
And the fake macho voices of MAGA - Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro and Steve Bannon - hate this deal.
Trump got his rocks off with Pete Hegseth by bombing a country and killing people. They love that. But they didn’t think ahead to what comes next. And now his secretly favorite media outlet, the outlet that he so desperately wants to win over - the NY Times - is just killing Trump over this.
I would not want to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio or JD Vance right now because they are taking the midnight lashings from Trump. He is screaming at them. “You promised this would work out!’’
And now with Iran in the catbird seat, we will have to watch over the next 60 days as Trump negotiators like Steve Witkoff go toe to toe with Iranians who don’t care about our reputation, who now see we are weak and who don’t care about their own people.
This is a terrible retreat by Trump, who is trying desperately to save face as the mid-term elections approach and electoral disaster looms.
Look for other face saving moves by Trump to change the subject from Epstein and Iran.