Washington Reacts Sharply to Trump’s Iran Deal, With Praise for the War’s End

The U.S. agreement with Iran, signed overnight between Sunday and Monday, triggered intense reactions in Washington. While many lawmakers in both parties welcomed the end of the fighting, several prominent Republicans and Democrats blasted the deal’s terms, and some of the most hawkish GOP senators had not commented publicly as of publication.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally and one of the Republican Party’s most pro-Israel hawks, said on X that he was concerned Iran’s reading of the deal appeared different from the version presented by the American negotiating team. He stressed that Vice President J.D. Vance, not President Donald Trump, was the “architect” of the agreement, and warned that any nuclear deal with Iran would go to Congress for review and a vote. Senator James Lankford told NBC it would be “better” for Congress to ratify any deal, saying congressional approval would make it more “durable.” Former Vice President Mike Pence said, “Better no deal than a bad deal,” while Senator John Cornyn shared a post saying, “Not even one cent should be released to this murderous regime” while it continues building missiles, supporting its proxy groups, and avoiding compensation to terror victims.

Outside Congress, conservative commentator Mark Levin also attacked the deal, saying no one had explained how it could last after 47 years of experience with Iran and its theocratic ideology. He asked how many more people would have to die to prove the point. By contrast, some influential Republican hawks, including Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, stayed silent in the hours after the announcement, even as reports in the U.S. said many Republicans had recently urged Trump to end the war quickly because it was unpopular and politically damaging.

Democratic criticism focused on the agreement’s terms, not on restarting the war. Senator Chris Murphy called it “surrender to Iran” and said the deal accepted “Iran’s terms,” but added that ending the “destructive” war was still preferable because each extra day weakened the United States. Senator Chris Coons said Trump’s announcement was a step toward ending the “reckless war he started,” arguing that the conflict had made American troops and civilians less safe and left major questions unresolved. Former President Barack Obama also weighed in, saying he doubted any new agreement would be very different from the 2015 nuclear deal he signed, which he said had worked for a long time until Washington withdrew from it. He added that people sometimes need to relearn that bombing is not the answer in foreign policy. Senator Ruben Gallego mocked the deal on X as “Trump’s Temu 2015 nuclear deal.”