President Donald Trump signaled a major break from long-standing U.S. foreign policy this week, saying a future peace deal with Iran would likely permit Tehran to keep its conventional ballistic missiles.
Speaking to reporters during the G7 summit in France, Trump said an outright prohibition would not be practical. “They got to have some,” he said, suggesting that a total ban on missiles was not a realistic outcome of negotiations.
He framed the issue in regional terms, arguing that Iran should not be uniquely barred from possessing missiles while other countries in the Middle East retain them. “What am I going to do? Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them?” Trump said. He also downplayed the broader threat posed by such weapons, adding, “Missiles aren’t the problem. They hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet.”
Trump’s remarks came after a reporter noted that one of the objectives of Epic Fury had been to eliminate Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities. In response, the president defended the apparent shift, saying Iran’s remaining arsenal is already limited.
“What are they keeping? They have less than other nations now. The rest of them are underground. They can’t even get them out,” Trump said. He went on to claim that roughly 85 percent of Iran’s missiles had already been destroyed.
The president also touched on the expected signing of a memorandum on Friday, saying he may remain for the event. At the same time, he suggested the agreement may not be the sort of document that would require his signature, remarking that it “might not be the kind of document” he should sign.
Then he half-jokingly said his Vice President could own the fallout if a deal goes south.
‘I like that idea. This way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD. You better be careful, JD. He’s going to turn his plane around and get the hell out of here,’ Trump said menacingly.
In a stunning departure from decades of established US foreign policy, President Donald Trump revealed that a forthcoming peace agreement with Iran will likely allow the regime to retain its conventional ballistic missiles, arguing that a complete ban is unrealistic because ‘they got to have some’
A reporter pressed Trump, saying one of the goals of Epic Fury was to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles
President Trump speaks as he is flanked, from the left, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a media conference at the end of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France
For months, Rubio centered his argument for military action against Iran on the necessity of neutralizing the nation’s missile capabilities.
He labeled the regime’s unwillingness to negotiate regarding its arsenal a ‘big problem’ and an ‘unsustainable threat,’ asserting that Tehran maintained weaponry ‘solely designed to attack America and attack Americans.’
For generations, every American administration has maintained a strict ‘red line’ against Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.
The issue was a big criticism in President Barack Obama’s 2015 agreement, which explicitly excluded missiles because Iran refused to negotiate them – a move that hawks, including Trump himself during his first term, heavily criticized.
At the UN General Assembly in 2017, Trump said: ‘We cannot let a murderer’s regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles.’
Trump ultimately withdrew from the Obama’s agreement in 2018, citing the missile program as ‘unfinished business’ and subsequently launched a maximum pressure campaign that demanded total missile restrictions.
However, speaking to reporters about a new memorandum of understanding, Trump broke not only with his predecessors but with his own historical stance by conceding that Iran would likely retain a missile arsenal.
His sudden concession that Iran ‘has to have’ them isn’t just a break from establishment bipartisan policy; it’s a U-turn on his own first-term record.
Vice President JD Vance fired back at critics of President Donald Trump’s peace deal, accusing them of spreading ‘Iranian propaganda’
President Donald Trump’s proposed Iran framework is drawing scrutiny from conservatives who argue the deal offers Tehran significant economic incentives, including a pathway to a reported $300 billion reconstruction fund, in exchange for future nuclear concessions
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on Tuesday
The new roadmap aimed at freezing Middle East hostilities, providing economic relief to Iran and initiating a ’60–day negotiating process’ has triggered intense debate on both sides.
The primary flashpoint is a provision that could potentially create a staggering ‘$300 billion reconstruction and development fund for Iran,’ raising sharp questions about whether the proposed incentives concede too much.
The debate centers on a still officially unreleased memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.
According to reports detailing the document, the temporary framework is designed to halt further escalation after months of intense conflict that recently peaked with American strikes on Iranian nuclear installations and left the region on the brink of an all–out war.
Rather than focusing strictly on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, the sweeping agreement reportedly encompasses almost every critical geopolitical pressure point in the area, including Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions policy, maritime security and the future presence of American forces in the Middle East.
