Onlookers pounce on perceived weakness of Trump's peace plan: 'Iran never keeps its word'

Donald Trump announced a potential deal with Iran Sunday, citing successful negotiations with Middle Eastern nations, and the reaction from hawks, analysts, and even some Trump allies was immediate and withering.

Trump posted on Truth Social that he would work out a better deal than Obama had done, but was vague on the details. For many onlookers, the negotiation itself was enough to condemn the development.

Former Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer was among the first to raise a red flag — and he pointed to recent history. "On April 7, the President announced a double-sided, two-week ceasefire subject to the complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait," Fleischer wrote. "Iran didn't comply. They gave their word and didn't keep it. I don't know what's different now. Iran never keeps its word."

Conservative Atlantic contributor Tom Nichols was bleaker still. "In other words, the war is over, we're stumbling toward some version of the JCPOA, America is out billions of dollars and lots of weapons that we didn't need to waste, and the United States is now weaker and Iran in a strategically stronger position," he wrote. "And for what?"

Geopolitical analyst Brandon Weichert was dismissive of the deal's substance entirely. "Of course there is no deal," he wrote. "We've barely got a patch to get us through Hajj."

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson took a more cautious tone, responding to a post suggesting Trump had walked back elements of the deal after public backlash. "I hope this is the case," Erickson wrote, "or at least the President understood the reaction."

Perhaps the most incendiary response came from far-right activist Laura Loomer, who offered her own verdict on the prospects for peace in three brutal sentences: "Peace talks going great. No such thing as peace with Muslims. It's very simple."

The announcement comes after days of growing unrest within Trump's own coalition over his Iran diplomacy — with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, retired General Mike Flynn, and scores of Trump's own Truth Social followers all warning this weekend that the president was being played by a regime that cannot be trusted.