Donald Trump told Marc Caputo from Axios on Thursday that the U.S.had bombed Iran into “unconditional surrender.” These comments were made the day after he signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the current war.
Experts and politicians from all sides of the political spectrum have criticized the deal as being too soft on Iran.
The strongest criticisms have come from the right.
Fox News host Mark Levin called the deal “unthinkable,” while another Fox colleague, Trey Gowdy, said it will make Iran “richer.” Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) also criticized Trump, saying he is getting “very poor advice.”
The agreement, which might end the war, includes 14 conditions.
These require Iran to let ships pass freely through the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S.to stop its naval blockade of Iran, and Iran to get at least $300 billion in funding.
During the interview, Caputo asked Trump what he had learned about presidential power.
He was surprised when the president claimed the U.S.had achieved what “really probably is unconditional surrender.”
CAPUTO: What have you learned about, not just the exercise of power, but the limits on your power as a result of the conflict?
TRUMP: There are no limits.
CAPUTO: No limits?
TRUMP: No, none. I haven’t learned that lesson yet. I know there are. But you know, there are no limits. We defeated them totally militarily.
[…]
CAPUTO: At the beginning of the conflict, you had talked about, you only wanted unconditional surrender. And–
TRUMP: Well–
CAPUTO: The [memorandum of understanding] doesn’t look like unconditional surrender.
TRUMP: Well, it really probably is unconditional surrender.
CAPUTO: It is?
TRUMP: I think so.
Unconditional surrender is when one or more parties in a war surrender without receiving anything in exchange and fully submit to the other side.
On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance, who helped negotiate the deal, offered a stinging rebuke to the agreement’s critics, particularly those in the Israeli government, which launched the war with the U.S. in February.
“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time, Vance said. “And he happens to be the head of state of the world superpower. If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
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