PoliticsDonald Trump Calls Iran Deal Critics 'Fools' as MAGA Backlash Hits Peace Push
Donald Trump blasted critics of his Iran agreement online.
June 23 2026, Published 6:04 a.m. ET
President Donald Trump came home from France with an Iran deal. By 4:32 a.m., he was already fighting over it.
The president lashed out on Truth Social after critics attacked the memorandum of understanding signed at the Palace of Versailles as too generous to Tehran. The deal is intended to end the war with Iran, but it has also opened a new fight inside Trump’s own political world.
The Early-Morning Blowup
He called the critics 'fools' in a Truth Social post.
“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!!!” Trump wrote.
The outburst came after Trump returned to the White House from France, where his administration released a 14-point MOU aimed at ending hostilities. According to the agreement, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. would end its naval blockade. The U.S. also promised to lift sanctions, make “frozen or restricted funds and assets” available to Tehran and ensure a $300 billion reconstruction fund.
The deal does not formalize a plan to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, instead calling for talks to continue for at least another 60 days.
The Base Problem
Allies questioned the agreement’s concessions to Iran.
“The biggest problem for President Trump is that his entire brand is built around being a tough negotiator who wins everything he touches,” said Aaron Evans, president of strategic communications firm Story Group. “As political pressure ramped up, the Iran deal started looking less like a win and more like an appeasement to get the Strait of Hormuz reopened after the administration failed to land the goals they set at the start.”
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy wrote on X that “Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed,” while Ted Cruz told the Daily Wire that Trump may have received “very poor advice.” Mark Levin criticized the reconstruction fund, and Erick Erickson called the deal “an American surrender.”
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The Iran agreement triggered backlash within Donald Trump’s own base.
Evans said that kind of criticism is more dangerous for Trump than attacks from Democrats.
“This isn’t a branding problem. It’s a base problem, and the base is the only kind of problem Trump actually cares about,” Evans said. “It shatters his credibility, his brand, and the trust of the people who put him back in office.”
The Clock, Not the Deal
An expert suggested reframing the agreement as a temporary negotiating window.
Evans suggested Trump’s best move is to stop defending the agreement as a finished victory and instead frame it as a temporary negotiation window.
“He can’t win the argument that the deal is good,” Evans said. “Nearly everyone already agrees it isn’t. But he can win the argument that the framework is a clock, and that he’s the only negotiator in the room who can walk away from it.”
