President Donald Trump defended the memorandum of understanding he signed with Iran Wednesday, writing that those who are denigrating it are “jealous, bad people.”
The 14-point MOU is a preliminary agreement, with the final deal to be negotiated over a period of 60 days. One of its main provisions calls for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz with no tolls by the Iranians. Tehran also agrees not to pursue nuclear weapons.
In exchange, the United States will lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports, allowing the Islamic regime to begin reselling oil again on the world market. The U.S. also agrees to facilitate a $300 billion reconstruction fund, financed by other nations.
The U.S. also consents to lift sanctions on Iran in an agreed-upon schedule, following the signing of a final deal and Tehran’s compliance with its terms.
.@POTUS: “No President in history has ever been tougher on Iran than I have — and they know that. If they don’t honor the agreement… we’ll probably go back to bombing them until they honor it.” pic.twitter.com/2X5ROqbwtl
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 17, 2026
Critics on both sides of the political aisle have sounded off, including GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, conservative talk show host Mark Levin, and Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
Are you on board with Trump’s Iran deal?
Cruz said, “History teaches that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is a bad idea.”
Levin posted on X, “Time for a change in strategy. We should consider slow walking the enemy, building up our munitions, our oil reserves, get the price of gasoline down, get through the midterms, then knock them out. Instead of rushing to a deal, building up their oil industry, transferring billions to them, etc.”
And Slotkin wrote, “The deal on the table is not even comparable to the Obama deal. It’s worse by a lot. By about $300 billion and a bunch of vague language.”
Trump posted on Truth Social, “These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are ‘tumbling’ down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
He added in a later post, “OIL IS FLOWING, IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON (THE WORLD WILL BE SAFE!), THE STOCK MARKETS ARE ROARING, JOBS ARE AT RECORDS, AND PRICES ARE DROPPING (AFFORDABILITY!). OUR COUNTRY IS STRONG, SAFE, AND RESPECTED LIKE NEVER BEFORE. ‘YOU’RE WELCOME!’”
The president also directly disputed the notion that the U.S. is paying Iran. “There is no 300 Billion Dollar payment to Iran by the U.S. That’s total Fake News! All there is for the U.S. is Success, Lower Oil Prices, and Victory. Check out the Stock Market. Dumocrat propaganda at play!!!”
𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗝. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 – 𝟭𝟮:𝟰𝟵 𝗣𝗠 𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝟬𝟲.𝟭𝟴.𝟮𝟲
🚨President Trump just posted:
There is NO $300 Billion payment to Iran, that’s total Fake News!
All we’re getting is success, crashing oil prices📉, and big victory!
Stock… pic.twitter.com/wuDOepGa4o
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) June 18, 2026
At a White House media briefing Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance directly disputed the idea that the MOU is the equivalent of or worse than the Obama administration-backed 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement.
“You have to remember in 2015, Iran had built a sophisticated nuclear weapons program, with a nuclear weapons stockpile,” he said.
Vance recounted that the Obama administration then tried to use American taxpayers’ money to bribe Iran to stop development, which did not work.
WATCH: @VP explains the differences between the @POTUS-negotiated MOU and the disastrous Obama JCPOA:
“The Obama deal gave them over a billion dollars of American money. This deal gives them ZERO dollars of American money.” pic.twitter.com/P3jsfr3QBg
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 18, 2026
“Our perspective, where we’re coming from, is, ‘We already destroyed your nuclear weapons program, and so if you promise and show verifiable pathways to not rebuild it, then we’re willing to give you some sanctions relief and things like that,’” Vance said. “So it’s a fundamentally different perspective.”
He also pointed out that the Trump MOU does not allow for nuclear enrichment, while Obama’s did. Further, the Obama deal permitted the stockpiling of enriched uranium, while the Trump plan calls for whatever material the Iranians have to be destroyed.
Vance said to critics of the MOU, “Have a little bit of faith in the president of the United States. The idea that he is going to strike a deal that’s bad for the American people is preposterous.”
.@VP: “Have a little bit of faith in @POTUS … he believes in this deal, he is going to see it to completion, and if the Iranians don’t comply, we still have every single tool and point of leverage that we have today.”
TRUST IN TRUMP! pic.twitter.com/b8dxATJZ9v
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 18, 2026
“He believes in this deal. He is going to see it to completion, and if the Iranians don’t comply, we still have every single tool and point of leverage that we have today.”
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