Eight Weeks In, Trump May Be Headed Toward An Iran Deal Similar To Obama's [View all]

Source: Huff Post

Apr 20, 2026, 06:58 PM EDT | Updated 11 hours ago


WASHINGTON — As his “four-to-five” week war against Iran is halfway through its eighth week, President Donald Trump is now complaining that polls reflecting the war’s consistent unpopularity are “rigged” while seeming confused about peace talks that appear to be, at best, recreating a deal with Iran he ripped up during his first term.

The two-week ceasefire Trump announced April 7 is set to expire Tuesday, with negotiations to permanently end the fighting now reportedly including terms reminiscent of a 2015 agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program negotiated by President Barack Obama’s administration. Trump tore up the deal in 2018, and a return to that framework has Obama alums wondering what, exactly, was the point in abandoning it in the first place.

“Exactly,” said Jim Townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Obama administration. “And how many people had to die to gain what we already had?”. Thirteen U.S. service members have died in Trump’s war, with hundreds more injured. At least 1,500 Iranian civilians have been killed. Robert Kagan, a top State Department official in Ronald Reagan’s administration, said Trump has actually blundered into a far worse situation, making Iran stronger than it has ever been.

“Taking what had been an entirely open Strait of Hormuz, recognized as an international waterway enjoying freedom of navigation, and placing it in Iran’s control going forward,” he said. “Any deal that leaves Iran in effective control of the strait is a strategic disaster, but that is almost certainly where we are headed. This will turn Iran into a major global power for the foreseeable future.”

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