Trump Under Fire: Bipartisan Fury Erupts Over Iran Deal Amidst Peace Talk Hopes

US political figures from both sides of the aisle have raised significant objections to President Donald Trump’s provisional deal with Iran, even as Trump issued new threats and Vice-President JD Vance expressed optimism about progress in the initial round of direct peace talks held in Lucerne, Switzerland. The negotiations faced immediate difficulties when Trump posted on Truth Social, demanding that “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”

Following these threats, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that Iranian negotiators walked out of the building where the peace talks were underway. IRNA stated, “The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, after meeting with the Qatari delegation as one of the mediating parties, left the building where the negotiations were being held.” The agency further highlighted that Trump’s message on X, containing renewed threats, coincided with the start of the talks in Switzerland.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the US and Iran continued to draw bipartisan criticism in the US. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, amplified his previous concerns by sharing a Wall Street Journal article on X, noting that “Iran’s ability to withstand sanctions so far exposes a hard fact for Washington: economic pressure has largely failed to cow rogue regimes, as they game out more ways to sidestep US restrictions.” He had previously warned that releasing restricted Iranian funds before eliminating Iran’s hostile nuclear capability would allow Iran to use the money to “replace their ballistic missile assets and begin to enrich [uranium] again,” posing a “continuing danger.”

Adding to the Democratic criticism, Susan Rice, a senior Democratic figure and former domestic policy aide to Joe Biden, described the agreement as a “jaw-dropping, horrific surrender” by Trump. She further characterized it as “flimsy” and “egregious” on ABC News This Week, arguing that “so many concessions were granted up front.” Rice specifically pointed out a provision in the MOU, signed by Trump in Paris, that allows Iran to “sell all of its oil and all of its oil products on the market unimpeded, and use that money to rebuild itself” even before any comprehensive agreement on its nuclear program. She contrasted this with the previous deal negotiated by Barack Obama, which only lifted sanctions upon full agreement and restricted Iranian access to frozen assets solely for humanitarian purposes, unlike the current unrestricted access under the Trump MOU.

Trump intensified his stance by threatening to renew military attacks on Iran if it failed to cooperate and control its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. He also mentioned a potential forcible takeover by the US of the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel. Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, rejected giving Trump credit for ending the conflict, stating, “That’s like literally an arsonist starting a fire and getting credit for running out of the burning building.” Booker lambasted the MOU as an “abject surrender,” asserting that “Iran gets all of the benefits, literally billions and billions of dollars,” and that the US has “capitulated to the enemy.”

Despite the challenges, Vice-President JD Vance offered an optimistic outlook as the first round of face-to-face talks in Lake Lucerne concluded late on Sunday morning. Vance stated that negotiators had “already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we’ll make additional progress in the hours to come.” Regarding Israel’s ongoing military operations in Lebanon, Vance acknowledged that “these things are always a little bit messy” but expressed confidence, saying, “I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon.”

Earlier, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas had criticized Trump’s advice on Iran, remarking, “History demonstrates that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is an exceptionally bad idea.” Meanwhile, US energy secretary Chris Wright commented on ABC’s This Week that the Lucerne talks would “set out what the Iranian goals are and what they think the tradeoffs they might have to make are.” Wright emphasized the unprecedented situation, stating that US military actions to destroy Iranian military capabilities and force a way through the Strait of Hormuz, without dialogue, had placed the Iranians in a “massively different situation,” reducing their leverage in talks. He declined to predict a return to pre-war gas prices for US consumers, but assured that oil and natural gas flows through the strait had returned to normal and would continue that way regardless of negotiations.