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Tuesday, 16 June 2026

Has Trump Surrendered?

 


While some people seek to openly defy reality and say that the Iran war was an incredible success, the reality is looking far different. Has Trump Surrendered?

A peace deal is due to be signed this coming week,

“US President Donald Trump has announced that the peace deal with Iran is “now complete,” signaling the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

“I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who mediated the negotiations, said both sides “have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

Sharif added that the agreement would be formally signed on Friday in Switzerland.”[1]

Now, as we all know, the President has declared several times that this war was over, and yet it has dragged on for months. However, there are some signs that it might becoming to a close.

American politicians are upset and are calling this a loss,

“US President Donald Trump’s looming Iran peace deal looks like a “surrender document” and fails to deliver anything America did not have before the war, Democratic congressman Seth Moulton has said.

The comments come after Trump announced on Saturday that a peace framework would be signed the next day and would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz. In an apparent reference to Iran’s enriched uranium, he said, “at the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust” and destroy it.

Media reports also claimed that the deal includes sanctions relief and the dismantling of the US blockade of Iran, while the strait will be operated without a toll regime. Iranian officials said, however, that the signing “will not be tomorrow,” and that talks on the nuclear program are expected to start later.”[2]

There is no doubt that the war has not delivered on what was promised at the start. The Iranian regime is still in place. The Iranians now have more open influence in their region. The US has not been able to deal a decisive blow, which some predicted and others still believe it has and can do at any moment.

But, someone might simply, “Matt, this is a Democrat speaking, they will not give the Don any benefit of the doubt.” Sure, granted, that is likely true.

But Israel are upset as well,

“Israeli officials feel sidelined by the emerging US-Iran peace deal and are furious with what they believe amounts to a “catastrophe” that fails the objectives set prior to the war, according to a report by the Israeli outlet Ynet.

According to the reported terms, the agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz without a toll regime, lift the American naval blockade on Iranian ports, ease sanctions on Tehran, and defer nuclear talks to later. While US President Donald Trump said the agreement would be signed on Sunday, Iranian officials said it would happen later.

Tehran has also insisted that the deal end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have occupied a significant chunk of territory. At the same time, whereas US officials seek an agreement that underlines “broad regional peace” – including in Lebanon – they insist that Israel reserves its right to self-defense.

However, Ynet, citing multiple senior Israeli officials, reported on Saturday that West Jerusalem believes that the agreement taking shape falls short on every major Israeli redline: nuclear dismantlement, missile limits, and the rollback of Iran’s regional allies. Tehran has repeatedly said it does not seek nuclear weapons and uses its atomic capabilities for peaceful purposes only.

“Trump screwed us,” one Israeli official told Ynet. A second official called the deal “very bad.” “From our perspective, it is a catastrophe, because it does not meet any of the principles we spoke about when the war began,” he said.”[3]

There are also reports of strong arguments between Trump and Netanyahu in private. Israel is not happy with the outcome, and that is a strong sign that the US has backed down, and moved away from seeking to achieve its original war goals.

Friends of mine who were strong supporters of this war feel the same way. They are arguing that Trump has betrayed America’s allies, and have bowed to radical Islam, and that he is appeasing the state of Iran, when he should be doubling down. Those who are not calling this a total victory at least. 

This does appear to be the United States backing down. Just to show this sentiment is reflected in other sources, AP news notes,

“ISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran and the United States are trumpeting their tentative agreement aimed at ending their war as a victory. But so far there is no word on what’s actually in it.

The memorandum of understanding, brokered mainly by Pakistan, starts with the simultaneous lifting of Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports, according to Pakistani officials. The two sides will then begin 60 days of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and the potential lifting of sanctions, they told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because the text is being kept confidential.

That would leave the adversaries more or less where they were 3 ½ months ago — before Israel and the U.S. on Feb. 28 launched their war on Iran, which has left thousands dead across the region, triggered a global energy crisis and shaken the American economy with an inflation surge.”[4]

A war ending in a stalemate and talks like this might be considered by some as a draw. But this shows that America was not able to force Iran to bow to its will. This is a defeat.

Reuters has the same perspective,

“"Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!" Trump wrote.

Oil prices fell on the news. Brent crude futures fell 4% in early trading on Monday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate slid more than 4.6%. Stock markets in Asia jumped.

Former Biden administration State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Trump had made important ⁠concessions to Iran to achieve the status quo that existed before he launched the war.

"We have no assurances the nuclear program will ever be addressed, but Iran has shown the world it can take the global economy hostage and get something from the U.S. in return," said Miller.”[5]

One more, the Indian Express notes this,

“As one analyst told PBS, Iran has effectively become the “gatekeeper” of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas. That has handed Tehran a form of durable economic leverage it did not possess before the war began.”[6]

After all the media hype settles down, and the Republican mid-term election messaging fades away, the consensus will settle on the fact that this is a defeat for the United States. They may have had successes on the battlefield, but they proved they were not able to ratchet this up enough to achieve total victory. The cost to the world economy would have been too high, and also the cost to the United States and its military.

But we should celebrate the fact that Donald Trump was willing to accept what most analysts will call a defeat, rather than continue to march on for years and years, like previous presidents did in Middle Eastern wars. Praise God for this. Praise God that it looks like this war will not escalate.

Of course, the deal is not fully struck yet. There are obviously parties probably on every side who would like this war to continue. Talks might break down, as they have before. But at this point it does look like Donald Trump has backed down, and this means the world is likely preserved, for now, from a worse disaster.

May the peace last.

List of References.


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