Trump, Who Tore Up Iran Nuclear Deal, Calls for Iran Nuclear Deal

One of the most reckless actions Donald Trump took during his first term in office was pulling the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, a hard-fought agreement between seven nations built around ensuring Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon. The deal allowed international inspectors to verify that Iran was abiding by the deal — which it was, in exchange for relief of economic sanctions. Trump backed out of the deal in 2018, calling it “horrible” and “one-sided.”

Iran did not take kindly to Trump’s decision, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggesting the nation could resume its nuclear program and musing about the day when Trump’s “corpse is fed on by snakes and insects.” Increased tensions have roiled the region ever since, Iran has resumed uranium production, and The New York Times reported on Tuesday that intelligence gathered in recent months indicates Iran is exploring a new, faster approach to developing an atomic weapon.

Against that backdrop, Trump is now saying it would be nice if the U.S. could reach a new nuclear deal with Iran.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon,” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens,’ ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED. I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!”

The prospects for such a deal are slim given Trump’s zero-sum approach to foreign policy, not to mention how difficult it was to reach the initial agreement the president trashed in 2018. Trump signing a memorandum on Tuesday tightening sanctions against Iran didn’t seem to help. “The maximum pressure [policy] is a failed experience, and trying it again will lead to another failure,” Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in response according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

Trump’s recent Middle East wishcasting includes not only Iran capitulating to his demands, but the U.S. somehow taking ownership of the Gaza Strip, ridding it of Palestinians, and developing it into, as he put it Tuesday evening, the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip,” Trump said during a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We’ll do a job with it, too. We’ll own it.”