President Donald Trump hit back Sunday at conservative critics of a rumored peace deal aimed at ending the nearly three-month-old conflict with Iran, insisting that any final agreement would look nothing like past administration policies.
The backlash began after high-profile Republicans, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, voiced concerns on social media about leaked provisions of the potential pact. Critics noted the reported terms had drawn praise from Robert Malley, a former Biden administration official who served as the lead negotiator for President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Trump dismissed the pushback in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.
“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,” Trump posted. “Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet.”
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He added: “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!”
The public dispute comes amid internal fracturing over the war. Joe Kent, the former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center who resigned from the Trump administration on March 17 due to the conflict, expressed optimism about ending the fighting but warned that Israel remains a major variable.
“To make the deal effective we have to be realistic about Israel. We must recognize that a peace deal of any kind with the Iranian regime will be viewed by Israelis as an existential threat to their objectives, therefore they will seek to thwart the deal,” Kent posted on X on Saturday. “To stop the Israelis from thwarting a potential peace deal, we will have to take away the military support that we provide that allows them to go on the offensive against Iran, and make it clear more will be taken from them if they attack Lebanon.”
Meanwhile, the prolonged conflict is weighing heavily on the American public. A CBS News poll released May 17 found that more than three out of four respondents felt “concerned” about the economy, and two in three reported feeling “stressed.”
A primary driver of that economic anxiety is soaring energy prices. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. reached $4.515 on Sunday. That marks a surge of more than $1.50 from the February 26 average of $2.98, recorded just days before U.S. and Israeli forces launched military operations. Diesel prices have followed a similar trajectory, averaging just over $5.62 a gallon on Sunday.
Following a briefing with a senior administration official, several conservative media figures came to the president’s defense on X, including Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany, Salem Radio Network host Scott Jennings, Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet, and Daily Caller Editorial Director Vince Coglianese.
“Iran doesn’t get a dime unless they actually produce real results,” Coglianese wrote, adding that the administration believes a memorandum of understanding with Tehran is “just days away.” The signing is not immediate, Coglianese noted, “primarily because communication with Iranian leadership moves very slowly.”
According to the senior administration official, Iranian negotiators are “clearly talking details about getting rid of the enriched stockpile in a way they never have before” and have agreed to halt further uranium enrichment.
“They have acknowledged that is something they’re going to have to give on,” the official stated.
The conflict began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes following the breakdown of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Trump and various U.S. officials previously asserted that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been “obliterated” during a June 2025 strike on multiple facilities, though the administration continued to maintain that Iran posed an unspecified threat to national security.
However, specific assessments of Iran’s current capabilities have varied. In a May 10 appearance on “Meet the Press,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told host Kristen Welker that Iran held enough material for ten nuclear devices, including nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60%. Trump Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff made similar claims during a March 2 appearance on “Hannity.” The administration has not publicly provided evidence to back up the assertions made by Wright or Witkoff.
Reporting by The New York Times on April 7 indicated that Trump authorized the military campaign following a February White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite internal skepticism from several administration figures, including Vice President JD Vance.
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