Trump spent years screaming that Obama’s Iran nuclear deal was the worst deal in history. And now, after two months of war, he may be trying to crawl back into something that looks a lot like it.
That’s tonight’s top story. Trump says he’s close to a deal with Iran. He also says if Iran doesn’t agree, the bombing starts again at an even higher level. Which is funny, because usually when someone is close to a deal, they don’t threaten to blow the other side up again five minutes later.
And the reported deal is not some grand, final settlement. It’s a one-page memorandum of understanding. Basically, a concept of a deal. A 30-day negotiating window. Iran agrees not to seek a nuclear weapon. There may be enhanced inspections. The Strait of Hormuz gets reopened. The US gradually lifts sanctions and releases billions in frozen Iranian funds.
Sound familiar?
Trump attacked Obama for years over sanctions relief and frozen Iranian assets. He was still ranting about it to children the other day. And now his own proposed framework reportedly includes sanctions relief and releasing frozen Iranian money. So either Trump doesn’t understand his own deal, doesn’t remember what he said yesterday, or just assumes his supporters won’t notice that this is Obama bis, the deal he threw out years ago.
But the larger question is uglier: What did this war actually accomplish?
US intelligence reportedly says Iran is still 9 to 12 months away from building a nuclear weapon if it chooses to do so. That’s where Iran was a few months ago, before Trump started bombing. So after two months of war, over a dozen American service members dead, countless Iranian civilians killed, tens of billions of US tax dollars spent, gas prices up -- and Iran’s nuclear timeline may not have changed at all.
That’s not “obliteration.”
And that’s not just my view. Former officials are saying the same thing. The regime is still intact. The nuclear program is still intact. The missile program was degraded, not destroyed. Iran’s support for proxies is still alive. The enriched uranium wasn’t removed. The ballistic missile program wasn’t ended. The Iranian people weren’t liberated. So again: what exactly did we buy with all this money, blood, and risk?
Then there’s the rest of the Trump show, because of course there is.
Kash Patel, the FBI director, is angry about The Atlantic reporting on allegations of erratic behavior and drinking. So now there are reports that the FBI is investigating the journalist who embarrassed him, claiming someone inside the FBI leaked her information. Which raises the obvious question: If Patel says the story was fake, how exactly was there a leak? If the story was made up, there was no leak. If FBI sources talked to the reporter, then maybe the story wasn’t made up after all. Pick a lane, Kash.
And then we get the Kash Patel swag bombshell, published a few hours ago by the same reporter: beanies, hoodies, “government gangsters” playing cards, personalized bourbon bottles engraved with “ka$h patel fbi director.” Because apparently nothing says sober, serious federal law enforcement like turning the FBI into a liquor table at CPAC.
Meanwhile, Trump’s ballroom has gone from $200 million to $400 million to now $1 billion — and the Republicans now want US TO PAY FOR IT. This is the same guy who said taxpayers would pay nothing, not a dime, zero. And remember, Trump had the FBI investigate the Fed chair over construction overruns. But when Trump’s vanity ballroom goes five times (and probably more) over the original number, suddenly we’re supposed to call it national security.
And that’s the theme of the whole night: Trump says one thing, does the opposite, then expects everyone to pretend reality didn’t happen the day before. He says Iran respects us while they’re firing on US ships. He says the economy is great while credit-card spending is through the roof because prices are through the roof. He says the ballroom costs taxpayers nothing while Congress prepares to put up a cool billion for it. His administration rebrands ICE as “NICE” because apparently Orwell was too subtle. Melania talks about Trump’s empathy and starts laughing. And the Pope, of all people, basically tells Trump to stop lying.
In Donald Trump’s Washington, it’s just another Wednesday.
