Facing bipartisan criticism of Iran deal, Trump lashes out at “fools”

President Trump condemns “idiots” who oppose deal terms USA-Iran The memorandum was called “either jealous, bad people, or stupid” after several Republican lawmakers spoke out strongly against it agreement.

“These idiots who think I wasn’t being tough enough on Iran when the stock market hit a record high and oil prices ‘dropped’ are either jealous, bad people or idiots,” Mr. Trump said. Wrote at Truth Social On his way back from the G7 summit early Thursday.

Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy was the strongest opponent of the Iran deal. saying Ronald Reagan is “turning in his grave.”

“Iran’s nuclear ambitions have not been restrained and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will continue to benefit from it in the future,” Cassidy wrote to X. “Now Iran will build a brand new infrastructure under this agreement. Before the war, the strait was open, Iran was crushed by sanctions and 13 soldiers were still alive.”

“Now 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions of dollars to the pump, sanctions will be lifted and the bombings will stop,” he continued. “This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”

Cassidy stepped up her criticism of Mr. Trump. losing its primary race Trump-backed candidates Julia Letlow and John Fleming are currently competing in the runoff. The president has repeatedly criticized Cassidy. seven Republicans He will vote to impeach Mr. Trump over the Jan. 6 attack.

Trump’s ally, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, is also among those criticizing the Iran deal. Cruz told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday that he thought the president was “really ill-advised on this deal.”

Some Republicans directed their anger at the $300 billion in reconstruction funds Iran will receive under the deal. The money, according to Mr. Trump, will come from private investors, not U.S. taxpayers, but it has still drawn bipartisan criticism as lawmakers have expressed concerns that the money could be used to support terrorism.

“History shows that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to kill us is an extremely bad idea,” Cruz said. “If we give Iran billions of dollars, that money will be used to kill Americans, and that’s why I don’t believe we should do that.”

“I don’t think it makes sense that we have an effective Marshall Plan for Iran and that we come in and rebuild Iran after it’s been the leading state sponsor of terrorism for 47 years, killing nearly 1,000 Americans,” Cruz added.

Sen. John Cornyn, also a Republican from Texas, said Israel was “left out” of the agreement, which calls for a “permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.”

“I encourage them to continue the fight against Hezbollah, because unfortunately Iran will now have hundreds of millions of dollars to support its terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah,” Cornyn said Thursday. he said. “So I think it’s a mistake.”

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chairman of the Intelligence Committee and a member of the Armed Services Committee, suggested that President Trump had weakened Iran but said he was concerned that “some aspects of this deal are a step in the wrong direction.”

In an interview with Fox News, Cotton said that lifting sanctions on Iranian oil would mean an infusion of funds into the regime: “Somewhere between $150 and $200 million a day. So that’s $4.5 billion to $6 billion every month. That’s a lot of money, and we know that this revolutionary revolutionary regime, they’re not going to spend that money on daycares or hospitals, they’re going to use it to rebuild their stockpile of drones, their missiles, to fund Hamas and Hezbollah.”

“I am concerned that the memorandum will undo the victories of Operation Epic Fury in a manner completely contrary to the President’s goals,” Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Thursday.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has previously advocated no deal and restarting military action against Iran, gave a lukewarm endorsement of the deal after saying he had spoken with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Graham said, “Following this discussion, I believe that signing the Memorandum of Understanding will be beneficial to the United States in terms of starting to open the Strait of Hormuz and ending hostilities with Iran.” He wrote to X. “Whether the United States can reach an acceptable, verifiable agreement with Iran on its nuclear program and other issues remains to be determined, but I don’t think there is much downside to trying.

“The economic stability that would be achieved by opening the strait and ending hostilities could create a path to peace far beyond the Iranian conflict.”

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said he hoped for more than just details. 14-item short plan It was released on Wednesday and called it “inadequate.”

“If the administration asks me to evaluate this based on 14 points that we know, then that would not be a good assessment,” Tillis said at an Atlantic Council event on the upcoming NATO summit.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday that the administration expects to brief senators on the Iran deal early next week.

“My understanding is that the ‘official language’ proposal will come out today, but yes, we have a request,” Thune said. “When they do the first briefing on this, I assume our folks will be here. We’ve asked them to do that. I would estimate probably early next week.”

Thune called the agreement “good for Americans,” citing potential economic relief if the strait were reopened. He also noted that “long-term” issues remain “unresolved.”

Democratic senators such as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York were united in their disdain for the agreement.

“When you look at the 14 points that were adopted by the administration, Iran won on almost every single one of them,” Schumer told reporters on Capitol Hill. he said. “Trump has done a very poor job of negotiating. Our situation is worse than when the war began. The Strait of Hormuz is now more under Iranian control than it was then. Iran’s leadership is now more militant than it was then. … This will be considered one of America’s greatest disasters.”

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal called it “a seemingly shameful deal” and said it “appears to be an unconditional surrender for the United States, not for Iran.”

“Contrary to the president’s promises, this capitulation was not made by Iran, but apparently by the United States to provide hundreds of billions of dollars that could be used to lift sanctions, support proxies, and the absence of any regime change and an economic windfall that strengthens that regime,” Blumenthal said. Blumenthal added that he believes the agreement should be approved by the Senate. Constitution outlines international agreements.

“Anyone advocating this is going to need flameproof vests, because he’s going to face bipartisan condemnation when it gets to Congress, which he should, because this has all the semblance of a deal,” he said.