Tipsheet

President Trump Says Military Action Against Iran Is Still on the Table

President Trump said Wednesday that resuming military strikes against Iran remains on the table if the regime fails to follow through on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed earlier this week, which is expected to end the war. 

He added that the agreement is not yet final, partly why the text hasn't been released, as the official signing is set to take place in Switzerland on Friday. That date also marks the latest the MOU is expected to be released to the public, as speculation and conflicting reports continue to surround the deal.

"Is the text of the agreement now final, or are you still..." a reporter asked the president at the G7 summit on Wednesday. 

"No, it's not final. It's a memorandum of understanding, and if I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head," the president replied. "If I don't like it, if they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, okay? Because they've misbehaved for 47 years."

"Nobody could have made this deal," Trump added. "I mean, the JCPOA done by Obama, he handed him $1.7 billion in cash, gave him hundreds of millions of dollars, hundreds of... gave him billions and billions of dollars, but he gave him $1.7 billion in cash, green cash from banks, into a Boeing 757 and flew it into Iran. And they stood at the plane. I have pictures of it, like: 'Oh my, look at this money he's giving us.' He tried to bribe his way out. I didn't do that. Nobody mentions that. $1.7 billion and hundreds of millions of dollars, they tried to bribe their way out of it. And you know what the Iranians did? They laughed at Obama, and they said he's a stupid son of a b**ch."

Some have expressed concern over the deal, arguing U.S. strikes haven't gone far enough to completely defang Iran. But the president's comments are unequivocally clear: military strikes remain on the table if Iran tries to play any games. Trump has been adamant that the United States still holds all the cards in the conflict; it simply remains to be seen whether Iran is as ready for peace as the administration believes.