Sunday Afternoon News Updates: Trump's Iran "Deal" Quickly Falls Apart — 5/24/26

Trump nearly surrendered to Iran, got called out by his own allies, and now, he's flailing

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 29, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

Hi all, Ben here. Happy Sunday, and I hope you’re getting some time to relax and enjoy this Memorial Day weekend with your families. Yesterday, we reported on Donald Trump’s supposed “deal,” which appeared to us to be more of a surrender. Well, it turns out that’s exactly what it was, and even even his own MAGA allies called him out. Here’s where things stand as of now.

Top stories we’re tracking today:

• Trump’s purported Iran “deal” is collapsing in real time after massive backlash from his own party and from Israel

• Iran’s state media is publicly contradicting Trump’s claims about the Strait of Hormuz, and movement in the Strait proves Trump is the one lying

• Republican war hawks — including Pompeo, Cruz, Graham, Wicker, and others — are in open revolt over the deal’s terms

• Trump spent yesterday posting deranged memes instead of attending his son Don Jr.’s wedding

• Kevin Hassett is lying on television about the economy and the Golden Ballroom (again)

• Russia launched one of its deadliest missile strikes on Kyiv since the war began

• Trump is exploiting a shooting near the White House to push his $1 billion ballroom project (surprise!)

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Let’s dig in.

Trump’s Latest Iran “Deal” in Full Collapse

Here’s where things stand as of now. As always, I will caveat all reporting by noting this is a fast-moving situation. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Trump’s team had worked out a supposed proposed memorandum with Iran. The terms, as reported, were jaw-dropping. The United States would release approximately $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets. Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz while retaining control over the chokepoint. The U.S. naval blockade would be lifted. And negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, which Trump has repeatedly called the whole point of this conflict (after abandoning his initial objectives of freeing the Iranian people from regime rule), would be deferred to some future conversation that may or may not ever happen.

In short, the war that Trump launched, the war that has cost American credibility and economic stability, would end with Iran in a stronger position than when it started, still holding the keys to one of the most strategically vital waterways on the planet, and with billions of dollars flowing back into the regime’s coffers. Pallets of cash, one might say. And the nuclear issue would be punted entirely. Reuters is now confirming, citing an Iranian official, that Tehran has not agreed to transfer its highly enriched uranium stockpile out of the country and that the nuclear file has not been discussed at all in these preliminary talks. How could you view this as anything other than a complete surrender?

To make matters worse, Iran’s own state-aligned Fars News Agency came out and publicly contradicted Trump’s characterization of the arrangement. Their statement made clear that even if ships are allowed to pass through the Strait in higher numbers, this does not represent “free passage.” It represents passage under Iranian management, on Iranian terms, with Iranian permits. That’s not the status quo before the war. That’s Iran having won something hugely important.

And then Fars dropped this brutal line: American officials have privately acknowledged to Iran in multiple messages that Trump’s social media posts are primarily for domestic media consumption, and they have recommended that Iran pay no attention to them.

Yes, they are saying our own officials are apparently telling Iran to ignore the president because he’s just performing for his base.

Iran's Tasnim News Agency added this morning that U.S. obstruction of some clauses of the agreement, including the release of Iran's blocked assets, is still ongoing, and that there remains a real possibility the agreement could be canceled entirely. Meanwhile, Iran's military officials, far from sounding like a nation that lost, are talking like victors. Senior IRGC commanders are declaring that America after the Ramadan War will never return to being the America of old. The head of Tehran's City Council says Iran is prepared for further military confrontation. Iran's embassy in Sierra Leone posted an AI-generated image of American flags being swept off a map of the Middle East into a dustbin with the caption "They say goodbye, we say good riddance." And the Iranian Embassy in South Africa responded to Trump's post of Iran's map overlaid with an American flag by posting a map of the United States overlaid with the Iranian flag, captioning it "Islamic Republic of the Far West."

Trump’s Own Party Is in Open Revolt

Mike Pompeo, Trump’s own former Secretary of State, called the reported terms a framework straight out of the Obama-era Iran deal playbook, the very deal Trump has spent a decade attacking. Trump wishes he could get a deal as good as the one Obama negotiated. You know, the one that didn’t require a war or disrupting the global economy to get signed. The one that actually put America first.

Steven Cheung, Trump White House spokesperson, responded by telling Pompeo to “shut his stupid mouth.”

Cheung: “Mike Pompeo has no idea what the fuck he’s talking about. He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals.”

Can these people grow up? This is why I always say I don’t view this community as political. People like Trump and Cheung are beneath the dignity of the White House. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. This is the United States government. Stop acting like a 12-year-old troll on Xbox Live. Show some decency.

Ted Cruz issued a lengthy, statement expressing deep concern, noting that if Iran emerges from this conflict with billions in assets, the ability to enrich uranium, and effective control over the Strait, the entire operation will have been a catastrophic failure.

Trump surrogate Alex Brusewitz then said to Cruz: “Cool, Ted. No one asked you, bro. Stop trying to undermine the President and his administration.”

Cruz told the guy to hush and let the adults talk.

Republican Senator Roger Wicker called the rumored deal “ill-advised” and said Trump is being steered in the wrong direction. Lindsey Graham wrote multiple lengthy posts warning that a deal leaving Iran in a position of regional dominance would put Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias “on steroids.” Ben Rhodes, an Obama-era official who helped negotiate the original JCPOA, put it plainly: nothing was accomplished by Operation Epic Fury except putting the IRGC in charge of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

And then there’s Benjamin Netanyahu, who called Trump directly, posted an AI-generated image of the two of them together proclaiming Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and made very clear that any final deal must involve the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites and the removal of enriched material from the country. Shortly after that call, Trump started backtracking. He told ABC he “can’t talk about the deal,” that it’s “totally up to him,” and that he “doesn’t make bad deals.” The blockade, he now says, remains in full force until a deal is “certified and signed.”

Contrary to Trump’s claims, Fars News reported early that 33 ships have crossed the Strait in the past day, writing: “Crossing of 33 Ships in the Past Day with IRGC Permission IRGC Navy: In the past day, 33 ships, including oil tankers, container ships, and other commercial vessels, crossed the Strait of Hormuz after obtaining permission, with coordination and security provided by the IRGC Navy.”

So to recap: Trump announced terms, got screamed at by Netanyahu and his own party, and is now saying he was never in a rush in the first place. He told his representatives “not to rush into a deal.” Time is on our side, he says.

The Memes, the Ballroom, and the Meltdown

While all of this was happening, Trump was also skipping his own son Don Jr.’s wedding to post dozens of times on social media.

He posted AI-generated images of American aircraft bombing Iranian ships with the caption “Adios.” He posted photos of himself with Chinese President Xi Jinping captioned “China Loves Trump” and “President Trump Gets Younger.” In one photo of himself and Xi, he wrote the caption: “President Xi and President Trump are AMAZING!”

He posted a Brady Bunch-style grid of AI-generated mugshot images of Barack Obama, James Comey, James Clapper, Valerie Jarrett, Susan Rice, Samantha Power, and others, calling them “The Shady Bunch.”

Meanwhile, yesterday’s shooting incident near the White House, involving a 21-year-old with documented mental health issues who had previously tried to enter the White House and believed he was Jesus Christ, has once again led to Trump pushing for his $1 billion taxpayer-funded gold ballroom. Kevin Hassett went on television and tried to claim that the ballroom wouldn’t cost taxpayers anything because Trump and his donors are covering it. When pressed on the billion-dollar price tag, Hassett said that’s just for “security,” not the ballroom itself. Ron Johnson said he “supports the national security component.”

Hassett also claimed that Trump’s Iran war hasn’t hurt the economy at all. He suggested that consumer sentiment data, which has cratered to its lowest levels ever, shouldn’t be called “consumer sentiment” anymore. It should be called “political sentiment,” he says, because it’s really just a “political variable.” In other words, when Americans say they feel terrible about the economy, that’s just partisanship. This is gaslighting at an Olympic level.

Ukraine, Still Waiting for the 24-Hour Promise

Amid all of this, Russia launched one of the most devastating missile attacks on Kyiv since the war began. 90 missiles. 36 ballistic. 600 drones. Residential buildings destroyed. A water supply facility hit. A market burned down. Schools damaged.

President Zelenskyy’s words were blunt: Putin can’t even pronounce words properly anymore, he slurs, and yet he’s still leveling apartment buildings with missiles.

Trump promised he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours — not 24 hours after taking office, mind you, but 24 hours after winning the election. We are now well into his second term, and Russia is launching its largest strikes in years. He has lied about progress in those negotiations repeatedly. And the American people have heard nothing credible about a path to peace.

The Bottom Line

What we are watching, in real time, is a man who has no idea what he’s doing. He announces a deal, then backs away from the deal, then claims he was never rushing in the first place. He skips his son’s wedding to post AI memes. He exploits a shooting to beg for a ballroom. His own officials tell foreign adversaries to ignore his public statements because they’re just for show.

This isn’t leadership. This is a con artist who failed his way to the presidency, has been bailed out his entire life, and is now discovering that the presidency isn’t something you can just declare bankruptcy on and walk away from.

Leadership requires competence. It requires surrounding yourself with experts, reading the briefings, understanding what you’re signing, and having the discipline to make hard calls under pressure. Donald Trump has shown, again and again, that he is incapable of any of it.

We’ll keep you posted every step of the way. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs to see it, and let’s keep growing!

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