He may not be another Hoover, but maybe another Wilson

🔍 WHY THIS STORY MATTERS
The Iran memorandum affects European security, energy markets, nuclear diplomacy and confidence in US leadership at a volatile moment for the Middle East and transatlantic policy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS...

● The memorandum pauses the US-Iran war while leaving a final nuclear settlement to later negotiations.
● Trump’s critics argue the agreement gives Tehran major economic and strategic concessions without sufficient verification.
● The Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief and Iran’s nuclear commitments remain central pressure points.
● The deal is already intensifying scrutiny of President Trump’s judgement, authority and foreign-policy record.

T he self-proclaimed Master of the Deal, Master of Gaining Leverage has signed one of the worst deals in American history.

Take a look at the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that President Trump signed at Versailles, of all places, last night. You can read the text for yourself here.

Basically, the MOU opens the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the war began, and ends the war which the U.S. started. Hooray Great Negotiator!

Trump said, repeatedly, that the war could not end with Iran having a nuclear weapon. That, the President said, was his bottom line (he gave up on his stated goal of regime change by claiming that the new leadership — led by the son of the previous leadership who was killed on the first day of the war — now in charge of Iran, is a different regime).

On his bottom line, though, — Iran having a nuclear weapon, Paragraph 8 begins with the sentence: “The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.” Paragraph 9 begins with: “Pending the final deal, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo.”

Not even reading between the lines, this does not say Iran will give up any weapon it has now AND it says, anyway, that the “status quo” will be maintained. Plainly in fact.

Plus, Iran has been saying for nearly 50 years it won’t develop a nuclear weapon, while it’s been doing exactly that. So, there’s that.

Meantime, Iran gets a $300 billion fund to rebuild the country from the war damage, gets to keep its ballistic missiles and systems, and the regime remains in power. After all, Trump said, its neighbours in the region have such bombs, why shouldn’t they?

Not a bad deal, for the Iranian leadership.

Also, not a better deal than negotiated by the Obama Administration, that Trump tore up in 2018. In fact, it’s worse — it’s not verifiable and it’s more money than Obama allegedly gave them. Trump covers his backside on this by saying there’s no U.S. money involved.

This is what happens when we elect someone who not only has no experience in world affairs, but someone who famously trusts only his gut to make decisions. That’s a gut that’s gone bankrupt in the private sector multiple times, led dozens of failed companies and that got away with public relations, bluster and lies for his entire life.

Not only that, but he’s showing signs of ageing, the same “disease” he accused his predecessor of having. His all-over-the-place diatribes at his press conferences, from lying about foreign policy to clearing algae from the Reflecting Pool, are getting tiresome, even to his supporters.

(My, now retired doctor, once told us: “Your 60s, aren’t bad, 70s are okay… the 80’s, they’re a crap-shoot.”)

His battles with his own party’s senators are becoming a daily event. His appointing someone with no experience in the intelligence community to be in charge of an intelligence agency, his “cancelling” a Senate hearing he has no authority to cancel — it’s all so dangerous. And so wrong and so unconstitutional and illegal to boot.

He literally went from hosting a show business event — men walking around the White House in their costumed underwear, then fighting each other in bloody combat on the White House grounds, escorted by our men and women in uniform who gave their blood in Trump’s War of Choice in Iran, I mean... Friends, when do we all say enough is enough?

Our true warriors escorting the UFC’s “warriors” in a multi-million dollar show on the White House lawns?

Have we no shame??

I get a piece of our electorate wanting to give the finger to the Establishment by electing Trump, but I gotta believe that feeling has come and gone and it’s time to get back to trying to return our country to our world-leading leadership, not the cult leadership we have.

Have we no respect anymore?

We lost 14 of our service people in the Iran War, while hundreds were wounded, we spent hundreds of billions of dollars on top of that, we depleted our own bomb inventory, we lost respect around the world for going it alone, for not even explaining why we were doing it to the Congress or the people of this country — people who are wondering how to meet the rent and put food on their family tables — for what?

Trump now points to gas prices coming down (they went up because of his war) and inflation coming down (up, because of his war).

To sign another Versailles agreement that twill go down in history as one of the worst ever?

Has he no shame?

🔮 WHAT MATTERS NEXT...

🎯 WHAT TO WATCH NEXT:

● Whether the 60-day negotiating period produces enforceable nuclear limits, inspection terms and a clear timetable.
● Whether Iran’s commitments on uranium, missiles and the Strait of Hormuz are matched by verifiable implementation.
● Whether US lawmakers force fuller disclosure, hearings or limits on the administration’s Iran policy.
● Whether Israel, Hezbollah, Gulf states or shipping markets disrupt the fragile pause.
● Whether sanctions relief and reconstruction financing become the central political fight in Washington.

🎯 MOST LIKELY OUTCOME:

● The memorandum buys a short pause in fighting but leaves the decisive nuclear, sanctions and maritime-security disputes unresolved until follow-on talks.

🎯 WHAT COULD CHANGE THE PICTURE:

● A breakdown in verification, renewed regional strikes (by Israel, in particular), or a dispute over Hormuz access could rapidly turn the deal from ceasefire framework into political liability.

🎯 WHY THIS MATTERS:

● Europe’s security, energy costs and diplomatic room for manoeuvre now depend partly on whether Washington can convert a loose memorandum into a durable settlement.

GOING FURTHER

• Read the terms of Trump’s deal with Iran | The Washington Post

• Key takeaways from the 14-point memorandum of understanding between US, Iran | ABC News

• US and Iran sign initial deal to end war, ease sanctions and open strait as nuclear talks continue | Associated Press

• Iran deal leaves major questions unanswered | Associated Press

• Lawsuit from Democratic-led states can proceed over Trump’s order to restrict mail-in voting — as it happened | The Guardian

Sources:

▪ This piece was first published in The Screaming Moderate and re-published in Europeans TODAY on 20 June 2026 under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. | The author writes in a personal capacity.

▪ Cover: Flickr/The White House. (Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.)