Former President Obama issued sharp criticism of the Trump administration for its handling of the Iran war, citing the human and financial tolls in an interview that aired Friday morning. “We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, put an enormous strain on our military, a lot of people have died and…
President Trump signed the U.S.–Iran memorandum at Versailles after Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf reportedly signed it digitally earlier in the week. The agreement, witnessed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, is being framed as a step toward ending hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. officials say...
Vice President JD Vance ripped Israeli officials who have criticized President Trump over the US-Iran memorandum of understanding, blasting them for complaining about the document that requires them to stop striking Hezbollah in Lebanon. Vance told reporters in the White House briefing room Thursday that Israeli cabinet members had, in some cases, “very personally attacked...
Former President Barack Obama said the U.S. is worse off because of current President Trump’s war with Iran. “We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military,” Obama said in an interview with NBC’s Craig Melvin.“A lot of people have died. And it feels like we’re back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off,” Obama continued. “I am very happy to see a ceasefire. And I’m hopeful that it holds.” The interview was conducted before the public opening of the Obama Presidential Center on Thursday, and aired Friday morning on the Today show. Obama pointed out that under the 2015 JCPOA agreement his administration negotiated with Iran, “Iran had agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.”“This administration, or a prior version of this administration, pulled out of it, which caused then Iran to develop more nuclear capacity,” Obama said, referring to Trump’s decision to withdraw from that deal in 2018, despite the agreement also involving the European Union, Russia, China, the U.K., France, and Germany. International observers also said that Iran was complying with the JCPOA at the time.Obama faced criticism from the right and his own party over the nuclear agreement, but it had the support of the international community, and it didn’t leave the U.S. in a worse position. Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran is under fire from virtually everyone, including Democrats, Trump’s MAGA base, Republicans in Congress, and Israeli officials, who are calling it a “surrender” and “total capitulation.” In his speech at the opening of his library Thursday, Obama emphasized principles in the Constitution that Trump has flouted throughout his time in the Oval Office, and praised protesters in Minnesota who rallied against the Trump administration’s brutal immigration effort in the state, saying, “these are the values and traditions I believe in.” What values does Trump believe in, except for acting in his own self-interest?
On Thursday, June 18, media coverage in the United States was dominated by President Donald Trump's Iran ceasefire deal and the opening celebration of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Journalist Jill Lawrence, writing for the conservative website The Bulwark, argues that between the two, Trump's "Obama envy" has been inescapable.The Chicago event featured a long list of major musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, U2 leader Bono, John Legend, rapper Common, Christina Aguilera (who performed the Louis Armsrong-associated "What a Wonderful World"), Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, and Stevie Wonder — who, now 76, sang favorites like "Higher Ground" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours." All the focus on former President Obama infuriated Trump, who, Lawrence observes, has been mentioning him repeatedly."Whether by fate, a devious Iranian conspiracy or a major miscalculation by Donald Trump, the U.S. surrender in his failed 112-day 'excursion' is coinciding with the triumphal opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago," Lawrence explains. "The split-screen contrast is telling, from Iran to presidential libraries. Trump's 'memorandum of understanding' to end his doomed war of choice on Iran does not fare well compared with the 2015 Obama deal that was constraining Iran's nuclear program when Trump tossed it out in 2018."Lawrence emphasizes that "Trump's Obama envy" has "been an enduring psychopolitical feature of the national landscape for what seems like forever.""He mentioned Obama's name nearly two dozen times during the three-day G7 Summit, by the New York Times' count, and repeatedly insisted that his deal was better than Obama's, despite glaring evidence to the contrary," Lawrence observes. "Cartoonist Patrick Chappatte nailed the dynamic eight years ago. 'What was so bad in that Iran deal?' asks an annoyed European Union representative. Trump's reply: 'Obama's signature.' Trump's preoccupation with his predecessor has long centered on challenging Obama's citizenship and his eligibility to even be president."Lawrence continues, "He started raising questions about Obama's birth certificate in early 2011, and his promotion of this 'birther' conspiracy theory escalated after a famous incident that year at a White House Correspondents Dinner. It was Saturday night, April 30, at the Washington Hilton."The "birther" claim that Obama wasn't really born in the U.S. is easily disproved, as his birth certificate clearly states that he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961. "Obama released a long-form copy of his birth certificate in 2016, and Trump, as president in 2017, speculated that it had been faked," Lawrence notes. "He has moved on to much grander conspiracies and lies since then, topped by his imaginary win in 2020. But he has never stopped trying to top Obama."
Although the usual suspects are attacking Donald Trump on the Iran deal, the actual Memorandum of Understanding with Iran ending the current round of hostilities is actually a win for the United States - and a political boon for the president. Perhaps that's why his critics are so quick to criticize it. It's important to keep basic facts in mind:
More than 100 days after US and Israeli bombs began falling on Iran, both sides are claiming victory - a sign of how much each needed a way out.
The US and Iranian delegations both delayed plans to travel to Switzerland for the opening round of negotiations.
The Obama Presidential Center is opening its doors to the public on Friday after a dedication ceremony held on Thursday, and part of the media coverage included […]