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ROUNDUP: People Who Know Best Say Trump’s Iran Deal Is the Worst

By June 16, 2026No Comments

This week, Trump signed a humiliating peace deal with Iran, leaving even his own advisors and allies scratching their heads. The truth is, Trump launched a war against Iran with no clear goal, no exit strategy, and no plan for what came after. Now, assuming the memorandum of understanding takes effect, the war will end with Iran stronger, flush with cash, and in a much better negotiating position than when the bombs started falling. And the bill for all of it — the airstrikes, the gas price spike, and now the reconstruction — is landing on American taxpayers. Read more about what experts are saying about Trump’s terrible Iran deal:

 

  • John Kerry, Lead Negotiator for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action: “The world is scratching its head trying to understand what the war has achieved other than higher prices and the unprecedented weaponization of the Strait of Hormuz.” [The Boston Globe, 6/16/26]
  • New York Times Editorial Board: “The details of the deal are unclear, but the announced framework suggests that Mr. Trump has won few of the terms he insisted that he would. It is a humiliating comedown for him and the nation he leads.” [The New York Times, 6/15/26]
  • Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: “President Trump is touting his latest cease-fire deal with Iran as peace in our time, but the world is more likely to see it as a strategic retreat short of achieving his war aims…there’s no denying that Mr. Trump is retreating from his main goals…” [The Wall Street Journal, 6/15/26]
  • Marc Champion, Bloomberg: “Trump’s negotiators have, at least for now, solved only the new problems that he himself created.” [Bloomberg, 6/15/26]
  • John Bolton, Former National Security Advisor: “They’ve played him like a violin. That’s why they’ve got the deal that they want.” [Europe Today, 6/16/26]
  • Farzin Nadimi, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute reportedly said, “Allowing Iran to export its oil concedes a key point of U.S. leverage….” [The Wall Street Journal, 6/16/26]
  • Jonathan Panikoff, the Atlantic Council: “Iran knows Washington’s leverage is limited. If nuclear talks collapse and the U.S. strikes again, Tehran can simply shut the Strait of Hormuz and reignite the global economic pain everyone is trying to avoid.” [Politico, 6/15/26]
  • Brian J. Karem, Journalist: “So, Trump gets the strait opened. It was open before the war. He gets Iran saying it won’t build nukes. He had that before he tore up the Obama deal. He says Iran will have access to $300 billion it didn’t have before. Where’s the victory in that?” [X, 6/15/26]
  • Aaron Parnas, Journalist: “He’s given Iran everything it wants.” [X, 6/16/26]
  • Garrett M. Graff, Journalist: “It’s worth mentioning in every news story that this deal is substantially worse for the US, and far more lucrative for Iran, than the Obama nuclear deal Trump blew up almost a decade ago.” [Bluesky, 6/15/26]
  • Ret. Army Gen. Jack Keane: “I can’t square some of the things that are coming out of the administration from reliable sources. That’s what I find so disturbing.” [The Wall Street Journal, 6/16/26]
  • Marc Thiessen, Former Speechwriter for President George W. Bush reportedly called early reports about the agreement “utterly disastrous.” [The Wall Street Journal, 6/16/26]

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