Ahead of an expected official announcement on Tuesday, America's commander-in-chief has reportedly told U.S. ally France that he will withdraw from what was one of the cornerstone foreign policy triumphs of former president Barack Obama's tenure in the White House – the Iran nuclear deal.
The news was all but expected from President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called the pact a bad deal and used his executive authority to unravel the chief accomplishments of his predecessor. This morning's conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron was first reported by The New York Times. According to CNN, French officials have described Trump's phone call as "disappointing."
In the lead-up to the White House announcement, Trump has used his Twitter feed to target John Kerry, who helped negotiate the deal as Obama's secretary of state. "The United States does not need John Kerry's possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal," the president tweeted. "He was the one that created this mess in the first place."
"John Kerry can’t get over the fact that he had his chance and blew it!" Trump continued. "Stay away from negotiations John, you are hurting your country!"
Jon Favreau, who was a speechwriter for Obama, offered a starkly different view.
"The president’s 'accomplishment' today is making it easier for Iran to re-start its nuclear weapons program," he tweeted. "For this, he’ll get a big cheer from the same crowd who got us into Iraq."
Samantha Power, Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, added on Twitter, "Trump has done the unthinkable: isolated the US & rallied the world around Iran. The costs of using military force have only increased."
According to The New York Times, "The U.S. is preparing to reinstate all sanctions it had waived as part of the nuclear accord – and impose additional economic penalties as well." Trump is set to formally announce his decision at 2:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Shares