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LetMyPeopleVote

(182,829 posts)
Tue May 26, 2026, 04:18 PM May 26

MaddowBlog-Amid fresh U.S. strikes in Iran, Trump goes on the defensive following Republican pushback

The president effectively told his ostensible conservative allies, “Trust me.” Many of them effectively responded, “No.”

Trump wants a deal that can simultaneously:
- get Iranian approval
- impress his far-right supporters
- allow him to claim that he struck a better deal than Obama did in 2015

Is it any wonder why things aren't going well?
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-26T13:16:30.244Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-iran-deal-republican-pushback-strikes

While the White House is no doubt accustomed to pushback from the left, in this instance the loudest critics of the emerging deal were on the right. MS NOW also reported:

President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. and Iran have a framework of a peace deal was met Sunday with skepticism from key Republicans — and confusing claims from the president himself.

The list was not short. Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned that the agreement “would be a disaster.” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina raised related concerns, while Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also said online that he’s “deeply concerned about what we are hearing about an Iran ‘deal,’ being pushed by some voices in the administration.


Even Mike Pompeo, who served as the secretary of state and CIA director during Trump’s first term, made his dissatisfaction known, prompting a White House spokesperson to respond, “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.”....

That said, there are two broad elements that are quickly coming into focus.

The first is that Trump’s weakness continues to get in the way of his progress. The president effectively told his ostensible allies on the right, “Trust me.” Many of them effectively responded, “No.”

For all of Trump’s strutting and chest-thumping last week after orchestrating several primary defeats for Republicans who defied him, his latest claims to political strength continue to look like a mirage.

The second angle involves appreciating the needle that the American president is struggling to thread. When the Obama administration sat at the negotiating table alongside Iran, Germany and the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the Democratic White House’s goal was to reach an agreement that would work.

The incumbent White House’s focus is qualitatively different: Trump wants a deal that can (a) get Iranian approval; (b) impress his far-right supporters; and (c) offer him a credible opportunity to claim that he struck a better deal than Obama did more than a decade ago.

Is it even possible to reach an agreement that checks all of the boxes simultaneously? I rather doubt it. Watch this space


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MaddowBlog-Amid fresh U.S. strikes in Iran, Trump goes on the defensive following Republican pushback (Original Post) LetMyPeopleVote May 26 OP
Sadly for the world, he COULD have gotten a deal BEFORE STARTING THE WAR karynnj May 26 #1

karynnj

(61,155 posts)
1. Sadly for the world, he COULD have gotten a deal BEFORE STARTING THE WAR
Tue May 26, 2026, 04:37 PM
May 26

that he could have sold as better than the JCPOA. I am suspicious that it might not have the very nuanced careful monitoring that Dr Moniz and his team worked out with Iran.

Now, even if they cloned everything from the JCPOA and eliminated all the uranium, rather than leaving a small, not highly processed amount, Iran would still come out ahead. Before the war, a threat to close the Strait of Hormus would not have the affect it will have going forward. They have proven they can do it and no one has been able to stop them and the consequences are known, not speculative.

In addition, the US and Israel were the clear aggressors this time ... no matter how often Trump references 47 years of terror.

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