June 17, 2026
We now have the actual text of President Trump’s Memorandum of Understanding with Iran.
I’ve sat with it all day today, and I’ve watched all the things Trump has said about what the United States is getting out of this deal after more than 100 days of war, the loss of 13 American service members, and skyrocketing costs for all of us.
And the only thing I can think is how very different the results today are from what Trump said would happen on the very first day of this war.
So I’m going to show you what he said then — and what he is saying now — in this video.
President Trump signed a hard copy of this deal tonight.
I think the first thing you need to know about this 14-point MOU is Iran’s interpretation of it was accurate.
They are getting a lot out of this deal.
And what are we getting that’s new?
Number 5: Iran has agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war capacity within 30 days. And for the next 60 days they will not impose any toll or fee.
However, within 60 days Iran will consult with its neighbor Oman to define the future administration of maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz.
I will remind you that the Strait of Hormuz was open, not under the control of Iran, and free prior to the start of this war.
But moving forward, according to this MOU, it appears the Trump administration negotiated that the strait will be free for the next 60 days, and after that it might not only be under the control of Iran and Oman but also require a fee for passage, which is going to add to the cost of oil and all the other goods that transit through the strait.
But what about Iran’s nuclear program and its nuclear ambitions?
You know…the whole reason why Trump started this war?
I will remind you what he said on day one.
So what did the United States get?
Number 8.
The first line says: “The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.”
OK, sounds great, right?
Except President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal that Trump ripped up in his first term, on page one, said: “Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.”
Section 8 of this MOU talks about what Trump calls the nuclear dust. Technically, it’s the enriched uranium that is allegedly buried in Iran after those strikes last summer.
The MOU says Iran and the U.S. will mutually agree on a mechanism to get rid of that stockpile, which is also what was said in Obama’s nuclear deal.
And then today Trump shockingly said Iran may still be able to keep their nuclear program.
The other win for Iran in this MOU that really stands out is the money they’re going to get.
It’s true.
Number 6 says the United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
But the deal says Iran will not get access to that money until the final deal is signed in 60 days.
But Iran is going to get access to a ton of other money right now just by signing this MOU.
Number 10 says the Treasury Department will immediately allow for waivers for Iran to start exporting their oil again, which could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars a week.
Oh, and that’s not all.
Number 11 says the U.S. will immediately release frozen Iranian assets which we’ve been holding onto.
That accounts for billions more.
I want to be very clear.
For more than a decade, President Trump has railed on President Obama for doing this exact same thing — unfreezing Iranian assets and lifting sanctions when Iran signed his own nuclear deal.
Trump called it the worst deal in history and said he would never, under any circumstances, give Iran money.
I guess today he changed his tune.
There is no enforcement mechanism in this MOU.
Today Trump said that’s fine — he has an alternative.
But that may be hard to do based on Number 4, which shockingly 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.”
What does that mean?
We have tens of thousands of U.S. service members in the Middle East.
Does this mean we’re going to abandon those bases?
But with no U.S. military to protect our Middle East allies, surely this deal would address Iran’s missile program.
Here’s what Trump said on day one.
But today he said the missile program is no big deal.
For the record, this agreement says nothing about Iran’s missile capabilities.
Even though President Trump was trying to sell this deal today as a win for America, he also suggested he has a backup plan.
Read all 14 points of the Iran/US Memorandum of Understanding here.
Watch Trump’s press conference here.
Video of Trump signing the MOU here.
Trump talks about ballistic missiles here.
