President Donald Trump has lashed out at “losers who know nothing” after senior Republicans turned on his reported plan to end the war in Iran.
Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo were among the critics after details of the proposal emerged over the weekend, warning it could be a “disaster” that ultimately emboldens Tehran.
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon,” the president posted on Truth Social late Sunday.
“Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet.
“So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about. Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals!”
On Saturday Trump ramped up expectations a deal was on the verge of being agreed, claiming the agreement was “largely negotiated”, before rowing back on Sunday by stressing his negotiators would “not be rushed”.
Though still under discussion, the deal would reportedly see the Strait of Hormuz reopen to all shipping and Iran surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, with the specifics to be negotiated during a later 60-day period, sources told the AP on Sunday.
During that period, the U.S. would lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports and Tehran would be free to sell its oil, Axios reported.
The reported terms drew concern from high profile GOP figures and hawks on Iran.
Senator Cruz praised the president’s decision to attack the country as the “most consequential” since he was re-elected and encouraged him to push on.
However, he warned in a post on X: “If the result of all that is to be 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, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake.”
Mississippi senator Roger Wicker share Cruz’s assessment that the three month long war would be for nothing if the reported terms were agreed.
“The rumored 60-day ceasefire — with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith — would be a disaster,” he wrote on X. “Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught!”
South Carolina Republican Sen.Lindsey Graham, who has pushed for military action against the regime in Iran for years, also raised questions about the mooted propsal.
“If a deal is struck to end the Iranian conflict because it is believed that the strait of Hormuz cannot be protected from Iranian terrorism and Iran still possesses the capability to destroy major Gulf oil infrastructure, then Iran will be perceived as being a dominate force requiring a diplomatic solution.”
He added that Iran being able to “terrorize” the Strait of Hormuz and damage regional oil infrastructure amounts to a “major shift of the balance of power in the region and over time will be a nightmare for Israel.”
However, in a second statement on Sunday, Graham hailed a “brilliant proposal by President Trump”, suggesting several countries in the Middle East could join the Abraham Accords – diplomatic agreements brokered in 2020 in which several Arab states recognized Israel.
Mike Pompeo, secretary of state during Trump’s first term, said Saturday that the emerging deal seemed no different from the Obama-era one Trump withdrew from in 2018.
“Not remotely America First. It’s straightforward: Open the damned strait. Deny Iran access to money. Take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in the region,” Pompeo posted on X.
His criticism drew a foul-mouthed attack from Trump’s director of communications Steven Cheung.
“Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f*** he’s talking about. He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals. He’s not read into anything that’s happening, so how would he know,” Cheung replied to Pompeo’s post on X.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, currently on a trip to India, also defended the president from those questioning the deal.
“The idea that somehow this president, given everything he’s already proven he’s willing to do, is going to somehow agree to a deal that ultimately winds up putting Iran in a stronger position when it comes to nuclear ambitions is absurd,” Rubio told reporters Sunday.
“That’s just not going to happen. But our preference is to address this through a diplomatic means, and that’s what we are endeavoring to do here. I think we’ve made some progress. I’m always cautious when I say that because you can agree to things on paper; they actually have to be implemented.”
