June 18, 2026
That’s how Vice President Vance addressed critics of his and President Trump’s negotiated Memorandum of Understanding with the Iranians.
President Trump took a sharper tone, saying, “These fools who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran when the stock market just hit a record high and oil prices are tumbling down are either jealous, bad people, or stupid.”
Well, there are plenty of Republicans who are very critical of this deal, so Vice President Vance spent about 45 minutes this morning answering tough questions from reporters about what is and is not included in this deal and what comes next.
I’m going to show you how Vance defended this MOU, and it’ll be up to you to decide if this is a good deal for America or not.
The first thing you need to know is the vice president said the 60-day negotiating clock with Iran starts today.
And the most important point he tried to drive home over and over again when it comes to how this deal works was this.
But it’s the benefits that he and the president included in the 14-point MOU that are raising all kinds of questions.
Today, Vance tried to put a positive spin on some of the thorniest deal points.
For example, this is how President Trump initially talked about the U.S.’s goal when it comes to Iran’s ballistic missile capability.
But this MOU does not include a single word about Iran’s missile program.
For the record, neither did President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, which was a huge criticism of it.
The difference here is, as you just heard, President Trump made it a goal that the U.S. would “obliterate” Iran’s missile capabilities.
But even J.D. Vance admitted that hasn’t happened.
So when asked what changed and why the U.S. appears to have abandoned that position, Vance defended the choice like this.
Another example of how the Trump administration is trying to justify this deal involves the money that Iran will now have access to.
Deal Point Number 10 immediately terminates sanctions on Iran so that they can start selling their oil — to the tune of more than $100 million per week.
Today, the vice president suggested a couple of curious things about that.
First, he suggested the sanctions weren’t really working anyway, and then suggested that lifting sanctions on Iran is a good thing.
The fact is the sanctions have absolutely been effective in crippling Iran over the years.
I’m not sure why Vance suggested they aren’t.
The other justification Vance made today was about the choice in Deal Point Number 11 for the United States to immediately release Iran’s frozen assets.
Now, that may be how the vice president interprets Deal Point Number 11, but the plain text of the MOU does not say the assets will be unfrozen only if Iran performs.
It says, “The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of this MOU.”
Vance also clarified some questions that you raised in my comment section yesterday about this MOU.
Deal Point Number Five is about the Strait of Hormuz, which of course I will remind you was open, not under the control of Iran, and did not have any tolls prior to Trump starting this war.
The MOU says there will be no tolls in the strait during at least the 60-day negotiation period, but then it says Iran and its neighbor Oman will define the future administration and maritime services in the strait.
But does that mean that after those 60 days we’re going to see tolls or fees?
Deal Point Number Six is about that $300 billion fund that the U.S. will “undertake with regional partners” to rebuild Iran.
Vance suggested that money is going to come from Middle Eastern countries and possibly private companies in coordination with the United States.
The other important clarification Vance made today is about U.S. force posture in the Middle East.
Deal Point Number Four says, “The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal.”
Vance was asked, as I did yesterday, what does that mean because it’s a little vague?
Does that mean the U.S. is going to withdraw the tens of thousands of American troops we have in the Middle East and the bases we have there?
Vance said no.
These next 60 days are going to be critical.
It’s possible that Iran will “behave,” as Vance says, and all these things will be accomplished.
But it’s also possible that none of this happens, there’s no final deal, and who knows what will happen then?
Watch Vance’s entire press conference here.
President Trump’s post here.
