Not Even Lindsey Graham Can Defend Trump’s Iran Ceasefire Deal

It doesn’t seem as though any American is satisfied with Donald Trump’s Iran peace plan—not even some of his staunchest congressional allies.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham implored the Trump administration Tuesday to test the merits of the proposal via a congressional review, akin to the handling of the Iranian nuclear deal struck under former President Barack Obama in 2015.

“At this early stage, I am extremely cautious regarding what is fact vs. fiction or misrepresentation,” Graham emphasized, hours after Trump announced he was capitulating to Iranian demands.

In the final hour of Trump’s total annihilation deadline, the U.S. leader posted on Truth Social that the two countries had agreed to a two-week ceasefire and that the White House was amenable to a 10-point peace plan that Iran had offered the day prior.

Those points include various demands for an immediate end to the regional violence, including proposals for a permanent end to the war, guarantees that Iran and its allies would not be attacked again, an end to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, and a halt to all regional attacks.

But the multipoint deal also seeks the lifting of all U.S. and international sanctions on Iran, and the imposition of a new $2 million toll per ship through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil tradeway situated between Iran and Oman.

Versions of the ceasefire plan distributed in Farsi—Iran’s native language—include an additional phrase not included in the English edition, specifying the “acceptance of enrichment” for Iran’s nuclear program.

It’s hard to see how the deal would offer any benefits to the U.S., though the final point undermines Trump’s rationale for the war entirely: The president’s primary interest in fighting Iran was to cripple the country’s nuclear program, stripping any potential for the country to create a nuclear weapon.

“Allowing this regime to enrich in the future would be an affront to all those murdered by the regime since this war started and would be inconsistent with denying Iran a pathway toward a bomb in the future,” Graham continued in a social media post Wednesday morning. “Many countries have peaceful nuclear power but do not enrich uranium. At a minimum, that should be the case for Iran.

“To those who say, Iran needs to save face by having a small enrichment program, I’m not remotely interested in providing face-saving cover to a regime that murders its own people, beats a 16-year-old girl to death for not wearing a headscarf appropriately, and is dripping in American blood,” Graham added.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took questions from the press Wednesday after a two-week ceasefire was agreed in the Iran war, and he was about as whiny as you’d expect from a psychopath who’d just been told he couldn’t destroy all of Iran’s civilian infrastructure.

During the conference, Luis Martinez of ABC News asked Hegseth whether his comments such as saying U.S. forces “will give no quarter” to Iran potentially put American lives at risk.

Thirteen U.S. service members have died since the Trump administration, without congressional approval, began bombing Iran on February 28. A Pentagon spokesperson told Time that 373 service members have been injured in the conflict, with five “seriously wounded.”

But Hegseth bristled at the idea that he might be at all responsible for the suffering.

“No!” he said. “I try to be nice up here, but you did listen to what I said, right? ... Of course, it’s ABC. Not a single thing we’ve done has put an American troop in more of a harm’s way. We’ve only set our troops up to harm Iranian military capabilities, which they’ve done to devastating fashion.”

Of course, starting what has proven to be a completely unnecessary war in the first place should make Hegseth and the rest of Trump’s cronies responsible for everything that happens there. Just as military commanders claim credit for their victories, they must also reconcile for their losses.

But Martinez’s question was about Hegseth’s comments while the war was still ongoing. In this respect, the defense secretary has frightened many with his extremist intonations.

“Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness,” Hegseth said during a March 26 prayer meeting, which he ordered to be held at the Pentagon. “Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”

At other press conferences, Hegseth has gloated that U.S. forces “are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be,” and that under his rule, the military does not fight “with stupid rules of engagement.”

It’s not a stretch to think that Hegseth’s bloodthirsty directives have led troops to be overly aggressive in the region, risking their lives in the process. His blatant dismissal of the rules of war also likely means Iran’s forces feel they have carte blanche to do horrible things to our own troops.

When a jet was downed last week, Iranian state media told civilians that they would receive a “prize” for hunting down the missing crew member and handing them in.

Even some of Hegseth’s fellow right-wing Christians, such as Tucker Carlson, have pushed back on his war of aggression. Carlson told ABC News shortly after the first bombs fell he thought the war was “absolutely disgusting and evil.”

Donald Trump is already running cover for Israel.

The U.S. president agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran Tuesday evening, adding in a Truth Social post that he was amenable to a 10-point peace plan that political strategists have pointed out overwhelmingly benefits Tehran.

One point in the list of demands specifies “an end to attacks on Iran and its allies.” Yet despite the concession, Israeli airstrikes continued to rain on Lebanon overnight, marking the single largest attack on the country’s capital since the beginning of the war.

When asked Wednesday about the continued violence in the region by America’s strongest Middle East ally, Trump suddenly claimed that Lebanon was “not included in the deal.”

“Because of Hezbollah,” Trump told PBS Newshour’s Liz Landers. “They were not included in the deal. That’ll get taken care of too. It’s alright.”

But Iran did not interpret the arrangement the same way. Iranian media reported Wednesday morning that Tehran would pull out of the ceasefire agreement altogether if the attacks on Lebanon did not stop. Minutes earlier, state media had reported that the country was considering deterrence operations against Israel over the ceasefire violation.

When Landers asked Trump whether he was alright with Israel’s actions, the president claimed that “it’s part of the deal” and “everyone knows that.”

“That’s a separate skirmish. OK?” Trump added. “You gotta talk faster.”

The chief executive hung up the phone when asked if he regretted his Truth Social post about wiping out the entire Iranian civilization.

It was the influence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—and a pitch for the war delivered on February 11 in the White House situation room—that thrust America into the conflict, according to a New York Times report published Tuesday. U.S. military commanders advised Trump that components of Netanyahu’s plan to attack Iran were “farcical,” but by that point, Trump had already been inspired to throw over Tehran’s theocratic regime.

It’s likely that Netanyahu continues to hold the reins. Last month, Trump told The Times of Israel that the decision to end the Iran war will be a “mutual” decision he makes with the Israeli leader.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth contradicted a major Trump administration talking point regarding the state of Iran’s ruling regime.

A reporter asked Hegseth at a press conference Wednesday whether the U.S. was still encouraging the Iranian people to rise up against their government, and what the two-week ceasefire meant for that. Hegseth’s answer went against the administration’s claim that regime change has already occurred.

“Listen, I would love to see the Iranian people take advantage of this opportunity. They have been oppressed by the previous regime, and they’ll have a new opportunity with this regime. That remains to be seen. That was not our objective in this effort. They’re brave people, horrible things have been done to them,” Hegseth replied.

President Trump and his senior officials have insisted for weeks that the regime ruling Iran has been changed following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Only Wednesday morning, Trump posted that Iran has “gone through what will be a very productive Regime Change!”

But Hegseth seemed to acknowledge in the press conference that he would like for the Iranian people to still rise up, in effect confirming that the ruling military and religious apparatus that controls Iran hasn’t changed at all. As the new, very shaky two-week ceasefire takes hold and negotiations between Iran and the U.S. begin in Pakistan, it will be interesting to see how the White House deals with Iran’s new rulers. Will it treat with them in good faith or blow up the chances for peace and take hostile action?

Iran called Donald Trump’s bluff. After spending days threatening to completely annihilate Iran, the U.S. president is suddenly open to giving them a lot of money.

In a semi-incoherent post on Truth Social Tuesday evening, Trump called for a two-week ceasefire and suggested that he was amenable to Iran’s 10-point plan, a proposal that the country’s leadership offered the day before. But experts quickly noted that the peace deal was lopsidedly in favor of Iran.

Chief among the concerns was one major concession that would allow Iran to collect millions of dollars in tolls from ships that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital tradeway in the region for oil and gas.

But never fear: “We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it—also securing it from lots of other people,” Trump told ABC correspondent Jonathan Karl on Wednesday. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

Political commentators did not agree with the president’s analysis of the new trade tariffs.

“Trump went from ‘we’re going to wipe Iran off the map’ to ‘maybe we’re going into business with them’ literally overnight,” wrote Bulwark founder Sarah Longwell.

“Are we gonna do joint ventures for tollbooths at all the major global straits—Malacca, Gibraltar, etc—or are joint ventures possible only if we have a costly war first with the littoral states?” wrote SUNY Albany political science professor Christopher Clary.

“Dude is insane. 25th amendment,” wrote former MS NOW host and Zeteo News chief Mehdi Hasan.

The strait has been closed since March 2. Situated between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, the waterway funnels approximately one-fifth of all crude oil shipments. In 2024, the U.S. imported roughly 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day through the strait, accounting for about 7 percent of total U.S. crude imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The ramifications of closing the choke point have been felt around the world. In the U.S., the price per oil barrel has exploded due to the strait’s closure, pushing gas over $4 per gallon in most states (in some areas of California, gas has leapt past $7 a gallon). Diesel shot up by 20 cents over the last week alone.

Trump has waffled on the strait’s significance to American markets. Last week, the president rapidly cycled through his opinions on the transit point, claiming in succession that he didn’t care if the strait remained closed and that he needed it reopened.

Iran has let very few ships pass through the channel, even for a fee, over the last five weeks.

Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth snapped at a reporter Wednesday who raised a simple question regarding the administration’s claims of a ceasefire and the reality on the ground.

“Iran has said that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible in coordination with Iran’s armed forces and ‘technical limitations.’ What do you believe that means?” the Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olahan asked Hegseth at his Wednesday morning press briefing. “And then we’ve also heard reports that Iran has continued striking targets well into this morning. At what point are we beyond a grace period?”

“What we know is that Iran is gonna say a lot of things,” Hegseth replied. “What has been agreed to, what’s been stated is the strait is open.… As far as shooting, we were monitoring it last night, in real time—of course we are. Iran would be wise to find a way to get [a] carrier pigeon to their troops out in remote locations to know not to shoot, not to shoot any longer.”

“If they’re still firing ballistic missiles—” another reporter interrupted suddenly, referring to reports that Iran continued to attack Israel and Gulf countries Wednesday.

“Excuse me? Why are you so rude?” Hegseth replied, visibly annoyed. “Just wait, I’m callin’ on people … so nasty.”

Hegseth likely knows this, and responded to an honest question about a major sticking point in the ceasefire with a personal attack to avoid answering. But while he, President Trump, and the GOP try to spin this as some mastermind dealmaking victory for them, Iran seems to be continuing to do what it wants, at least for the time being. It’ll control the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian government will remain in place, and it may even continue to fire on Israel and the Gulf allies, as Israel too continues to bomb Lebanon.

At the eleventh hour Tuesday night, Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire in his war on Iran, saying that Iran’s proposed 10-point plan was a “workable basis” for negotiations and claiming victory. But already cracks are forming.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is denying that Lebanon is included in the deal, contradicting Iran, mediator Pakistan, and French President Emmanuel Macron. Lebanon was bombed relentlessly by Israel hours after the deal was announced, with strikes hitting the city of Tyre on the southern coast. Multiple airstrikes have hit Beirut, with Israel claiming to have hit 100 Hezbollah targets across the country in a span of 10 minutes.

Israel’s chief of the general staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, said in a statement Wednesday, “We will continue to strike the terrorist organisation Hezbollah and seize every opportunity.”

“We will not compromise on the security of the [Israeli] residents of the North. We will continue to attack without pause,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, an oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island was bombed, with the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company saying that “safety and firefighting teams are controlling and extinguishing the fire and securing the facility.”

“Fortunately, no casualties have been reported so far due to the timely evacuation of employees,” the company said in a statement to the Mehr news agency.

The United Arab Emirates said that its air defense systems had to handle 17 ballistic missiles and 35 drones from Iran Wednesday, and the Kuwaiti military said 31 Iranian drones targeted its oil, gas, and water desalination facilities.

Meanwhile, Pakistan says Iran will be in attendance for talks in Islamabad Friday. The terms of the ceasefire deal state that the U.S. will pause its bombing campaign and that Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But will Israel’s insistence that it continue bombing (and occupying) Lebanon derail the whole thing? Will Trump seek to protect the deal and tell his friend and fellow war criminal Netanyahu to back off? He may have to if he wants the ceasefire to hold.

The most bloodthirsty MAGA acolytes are fuming at President Trump’s two-week ceasefire deal with Iran and his capitulation to its 10-point plan—a major win for the Iranian government.

On Tuesday, after he threatened to kill “a whole civilization” and just 90 minutes before his deadline to reach a deal, Trump announced that he’d “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.” He credited positive talks with Pakistan and Iran for the agreement, citing Iran’s 10-point plan as a “workable basis on which to negotiate.” This was devastating news for some of the worst people in the MAGA-verse.

“The Islamic terrorist regime of Iran is now more legitimized and emboldened than ever before. Terrorists can’t be negotiated with. They can only be destroyed. The US doesn’t get anything out of this ceasefire that isn’t a ceasefire,” MAGA commentator, Zionist, and proud Islamophobe Laura Loomer wrote on X. “How many missiles did Iran fire into allied countries last night? A lot.”

“A ceasefire that leaves the IRGC in power isn’t peace. It’s permission,” self-described “MAGA Jew” Matthew Feinberg wrote on X. “Permission to regroup. Permission to rearm. Permission to do it all over again. That’s not a win. That’s a delay.”

“This is a cancer. If you don’t fully get rid of a cancer, it will grow back,” conservative Iranian American commentator Dr. Sheila Nazarian told News Nation Tuesday evening. “China will help, Russia will help, and we will leave a nuclear, fully stockpiled, more knowledgeable Iran for our children and grandchildren to deal with.”

The Truth Social comments (at least the few that weren’t bots) weren’t much better for Trump, either.

“I’m extremely disappointed in President Trump tonight. I don’t understand how you can possibly believe anything the IRGC says!!” one user replied to Trump’s announcement. “FUCK THAT!!!! END THIS FUCKING SHIT ALREADY!!! YOU CAN’T NEGOTIATE WITH FUCKING TERRORISTS FOR FUCKS SAKE,” said another.

This ceasefire is only temporary, and comes as the U.S. and Israel have already killed more than 3,000 civilians in Iran and Lebanon. And yet MAGA’s reaction demonstrates the constant whiplash Trump is oscillating between—from the genocidal Laura Loomer route to the “end to endless wars” route he ran on. Right now, both sides are unhappy.

The leader of the Catholic Church has denounced Donald Trump’s warmongering rhetoric.

Pope Leo XIV described the U.S. president’s recent threats to obliterate Iranian civilization as “truly unacceptable.”

“Today as we all know there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable,” Leo said Tuesday. “Here there are certainly questions of international law, but even more than this a question of morality for the good of people.”

Trump earlier Tuesday had pledged that Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” unless the country’s leadership agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital tradeway in the region that only closed because of Trump’s intervention. He similarly promised to “blow up the whole country.”

Trump has repeatedly escalated his threats against Iran since Sunday, demanding that the country’s leadership either reopen the waterway or face total annihilation, highlighting various possible strike targets such as Iran’s power plants and bridges. The president said this despite the fact that carrying out this threat would constitute a war crime.

Leo referred to the conflict as an “unjust war” and said that the war is “continuing to escalate” with no clear resolution. It “is only provoking more hatred throughout the world,” he said, according to the Associated Press’s English translation of the pope’s comments, which were made in Italian.

But such a severe attack on Iran wouldn’t just be immoral—it would also violate the laws of war. Targeting noncombatants such as civilians and civilian infrastructure is a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law. Exterminating a “whole civilization” would break several components of the Geneva Conventions, which the U.S. played a foundational role in creating nearly a century ago.

The pope urged people of goodwill to contact their local lawmakers to create pressure against the White House–led war effort. Leo emphasized that attacks on civilian infrastructure are “against international law” as well as a “sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction human beings are capable of.”

“We all want to work for peace,” the pope said.

Trump wrote on social media that Iran had the opportunity to act until Tuesday 8 p.m. Iran has so far rejected potential peace deals.

Annie Ramos, the 22-year-old wife of Army soldier Matthew Blank, was released from ICE custody on Tuesday. Ramos had been detained for five days after being arrested on the Fort Polk, Louisiana, military base where her husband is stationed.

“I am deeply grateful to my husband, Matthew, who never stopped fighting for me, and to our families and community who surrounded us with love, prayers, and support. Because of them, I am home,” Ramos said in a statement. “All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby. I want to finish my degree, continue my education, and serve my community—just as my husband serves our country with honor.”

Just a few weeks after the couple were married, Ramos was arrested by ICE agents. The two were checking in at Fort Polk to begin the process that would allow them to live together at the base and earn military benefits. Ramos was then handcuffed, led away from Blank and her new parents-in-law, and taken to a building that Blank said “looked like an interrogation room.”

She had no criminal record.

Ramos was born in Honduras and is undocumented. She was issued a deportation order when she was 22 months old. But regardless of such orders, U.S. law allows undocumented immigrants who marry U.S. citizens to become eligible for permanent residency. After getting permanent residency, they can apply for citizenship.

The couple had even hired an immigration lawyer to assist them as they navigated the complicated citizenship process, before running into Donald Trump’s lawless goons.

“I knew she didn’t have status,” Blank said after Ramos was detained. “We were doing everything the right way.”

When they’re not milling around airports doing nothing, some ICE agents have been deployed to military bases around the U.S., mostly targeting relatives of military recruits when they show up on visiting days. Ramos’s case was the first reported instance of a military spouse being detained.

Thankfully, the couple is now reunited. The Trump administration has presumably realized it is a terrible look to be splitting up military families at a time when the U.S. is literally at war. Sadly, thousands of other families continue to be forced apart under Trump’s immigration policies.