On Sunday, President Donald Trump took aim at his Republican detractors after receiving criticism from key allies such as Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham. They had expressed concerns that Trump’s potential agreement with Iran might parallel what they considered the flawed nuclear deal from the Obama administration.
This public dispute unveiled significant divisions within the GOP, as some of the party’s more hawkish members questioned whether Trump was on the verge of repeating the perceived mistakes of the past nuclear accord, which he had previously criticized as disastrous.
In a heated response posted on Truth Social, Trump assured that any deal he reaches with Iran would be both “good and proper.” He dismissed his Republican critics, labeling them as “losers.”
“Should I reach an agreement with Iran, it will be a sound and appropriate one,” Trump asserted. “It will not resemble the deal made by Obama, which handed Iran vast sums of money and a straightforward path to acquiring nuclear weapons,” he continued.
Trump further emphasized, “Our agreement stands in stark contrast, yet it remains unseen and unknown. It hasn’t even been fully negotiated yet.”
In his message, the president did not hold back in addressing the dissent within his own party, signaling his determination to forge ahead with his approach, despite the internal GOP conflict.
‘So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about,’ Trump added. ‘Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals!’
The sharp response came after a growing chorus of Republicans erupted over reports that the developing framework with Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, establish a 60-day ceasefire and continue negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program while details are finalized.
Donald Trump insisted the Iran agreement currently being negotiated is ‘THE EXACT OPPOSITE’ of the Obama-era nuclear deal he withdrew from in 2018 and said critics were attacking something that was not yet fully finalized
Ted Cruz called Trump’s strike against Iran the ‘most consequential’ decision of his second term warning the president not to squander the military pressure
Lindsey Graham warned that any agreement leaving Iran as a dominant force in the Middle East could become a ‘nightmare for Israel’ and questioned the entire purpose of the conflict
Senators including Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham openly sounded the alarm over the pending agreement.
Cruz delivered one of the sharpest attacks over the weekend, saying he was ‘deeply concerned’ by what he was hearing from inside the administration.
‘If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime – still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’ – now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake,’ Cruz wrote on X.
‘The details are still coming out – and I pray the early reports are wrong – but the fact that Biden’s Rob Malley is praising the deal is not encouraging,’ he added, referring to the former Biden Iran envoy who helped negotiate the 2015 Obama nuclear deal.
Cruz’s warning then triggered a flood of criticism from other Republican national security hawks.
Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, blasted the proposed 60-day ceasefire and warned ‘everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught.’
Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies in Washington, also publicly questioned the direction of the talks and warned that any agreement leaving Iran as a dominant regional power would be disastrous for Israel.
‘It makes one wonder why the war started to begin with if these perceptions are accurate,’ Graham wrote on X.
The South Carolina senator later softened his criticism somewhat, suggesting he could support the broader arrangement if it resulted in a major expansion of the Abraham Accords – the Trump-brokered agreements that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations during his first term.
Graham said adding countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan to the accords would be ‘beyond transformative for the region and world’ and called it a potentially ‘brilliant move by President Trump.’
Smoke and fire rise from the site of airstrikes at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on March 7, 2026 as part of air strikes on targets in the Iranian capital
Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman’s northern Musandam Peninsula. President Donald Trump said that Iran and the US had ‘largely negotiated’ a deal that included opening the Strait but the draft was ‘subject to finalization’
Trump said the blockade around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz would remain ‘in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed,’ despite reports of a broader ceasefire framework taking shape
Trump dismissed Republican critics of the talks as ‘losers’ on Truth Social and argued both sides must ‘take their time and get it right’ because ‘there can be no mistakes’
Senator Thom Tillis questioned why the administration now appeared willing to tolerate Iran retaining nuclear material after months of insisting Tehran’s capabilities had been devastated
Still, skepticism inside Republican ranks continued to grow on Sunday when Thom Tillis questioned why the administration now appeared willing to tolerate Iran retaining nuclear material after months of insisting Tehran’s capabilities had been devastated.
‘We were told about 11 weeks ago by Hegseth and the Department of Defense that they had obliterated Iran’s defenses, and it was just a matter of time before we had the nuclear material,’ Tillis said on CNN.
‘Now we’re talking about a posture where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran. How does that make sense at all?’
Tillis also warned that any agreement not formally ratified by Congress would ultimately collapse just like the Obama-era accord Trump withdrew from in 2018.
‘There are a lot of things that need to be explained,’ Tillis said. ‘Any agreement with Iran that isn’t subject to ratification by Congress is going to be doomed to fail.’
The uproar intensified after fresh details emerged about the developing agreement.
According to reports, the United States and Iran have agreed ‘in principle’ to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – the critical shipping lane through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s energy supplies transit – while Tehran would also agree in principle to dispose of its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
A senior Trump administration official told the New York Post that Iran would reopen the strait ‘in exchange for us lifting the blockade,’ while negotiations continue over how the uranium would ultimately be handled.
‘We feel quite confident that the supreme leader has signed off on the broad template,’ the official said.
Iran has not publicly confirmed the reported framework, and officials inside the country have reportedly issued conflicting messages about what any final agreement would contain.
Lindsey Graham said reports suggesting Iran could retain influence over the Strait of Hormuz and continue threatening Gulf oil infrastructure made him question ‘why the war started to begin with’
Ted Cruz warned that allowing Iran to emerge from the conflict with billions of dollars, continued uranium enrichment capabilities and control over the Strait of Hormuz would represent a catastrophic reversal after months of US military pressure
FILE – Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during the Republican National Convention, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the emerging agreement as ‘Not remotely America First,’ arguing the framework appeared too similar to the Obama-era Iran nuclear pact
Roger Wicker warned that the proposed 60-day ceasefire with Iran would be a ‘disaster’ and argued that ‘everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught’
Wicker, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, emerged as one of the strongest Republican voices opposing any deal that could allow Iran to retain leverage in the region
The proposed deal has also reopened bitter divisions among Trump allies from his first administration.
Mike Pompeo accused the White House of drifting dangerously close to the Obama-era nuclear agreement.
‘Not remotely America First,’ Pompeo wrote on X.
The remark triggered a blistering response from White House communications director Steven Cheung, who fired back by telling Pompeo to ‘shut his stupid mouth.’
Former national security adviser John Bolton also warned the emerging framework appeared to hand Tehran a major strategic victory.
‘If news reports about the impending Iran deal are correct, the ayatollahs will have won a significant victory,’ Bolton wrote Sunday on X.
Trump, however, has aggressively pushed back against the criticism and rejected comparisons to the Obama deal.
Bolton argued the emerging framework could place Iran ‘back on the road to nuclear weapons’, allowing the regime to continue supporting global terrorism and repressing its own people
On Truth Social Sunday morning, the president insisted the agreement being negotiated was ‘THE EXACT OPPOSITE’ of the 2015 nuclear pact.
‘Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!’ Trump wrote.
He also said the US blockade around Iran would remain ‘in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also defended the administration’s approach during a diplomatic trip to India.
‘His commitment to that principle that they’ll never have a nuclear weapon shouldn’t be questioned by anybody,’ Rubio said.
‘And the idea that somehow this president, given everything he’s already proven he’s willing to do, is going to somehow agree to a deal that ultimately winds up putting Iran in a stronger position when it comes to nuclear ambitions is absurd.’
