‘Don’t listen to the losers’: Trump cautions against criticisms over potential Iran deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Sunday to target critics of provisions reportedly in a potential peace deal to end the conflict with Iran as it stretches towards the three-month mark.

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other conservatives expressed concern over rumors related to the potential deal on social media, even citing how the reported deal drew praise from former Biden administration official Robert Malley. Malley was the lead negotiator of former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran; Trump said any deal he accepted would be nothing like the one that Obama signed.

“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet.”

“So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about,” he continued. “Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals!”

Former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent, who resigned from the Trump administration on March 17 over the conflict, warned in a Saturday post on X that the United States would have to also address Israel after he expressed optimism about an end to the fighting.

“To make the deal effective, we have to be realistic about Israel. We must recognize that a peace deal of any kind with the Iranian regime will be viewed by Israelis as an existential threat to their objectives, therefore they will seek to thwart the deal,” Kent said. “To stop the Israelis from thwarting a potential peace deal, we will have to take away the military support that we provide that allows them to go on the offensive against Iran, and make it clear more will be taken from them if they attack Lebanon.”

More than three out of four respondents to a CBS News poll released May 17 said they felt “concerned” about the economy, while two in three said they felt “stressed” as the war continues to affect the U.S. economy, such as stubbornly high inflation, particularly due to higher energy prices.

The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. on Sunday was $4.515, according to AAA, up over $1.50 from that of Feb. 26 — $2.98 per gallon — days before the start of U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran. Diesel prices have also soared to an average of just over $5.62 a gallon at the time of writing.

Multiple conservative media figures, including Salem Radio Network host Scott Jennings, Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany, Daily Caller Editorial Director Vince Coglianese, and Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet, took to X to defend Trump’s efforts following a briefing with a “senior administration official.”

Just briefed by a senior Trump admin official. I feel VERY good about where the Iran negotiations are going.

TOPLINE: “NO DUST, NO DOLLARS” — Iran doesn’t get a dime unless they actually produce real results.

Details:

The Trump administration believes it is now just days away…

— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) May 24, 2026

“Iran doesn’t get a dime unless they actually produce real results,” Coglianese summarized, adding, “The Trump administration believes it is now just days away from a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian regime. It won’t be signed today or tomorrow, the official says, but that’s primarily because communication with Iranian leadership moves very slowly.”

The United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on Feb. 28 after talks over the Islamic regime’s nuclear weapons program broke down. Trump and other administration officials asserted the Iranian nuclear program was “obliterated” after the June 2025 strike against multiple Iranian nuclear sites, but maintained Iran posed a threat to the U.S. without providing specific details.

During a May 10 interview on “Meet the Press,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told host Kristen Welker that Iran possessed sufficient material for ten nuclear devices and nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60%. Trump Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff made comparable claims during a March 2 appearance on “Hannity.” The administration has not provided evidence to substantiate these assertions from either Witkoff or Wright.

The New York Times reported on April 7 that, although there was skepticism among a number of administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Trump was persuaded to authorize the military campaign against Iran following a February meeting at the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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