Trump's foolish fixation on torching the Iran deal

The deal is working. But the president still seems determined to blow it up.

President Trump.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)

Two years ago, when the Republican candidates for president were jabbering on about how Barack Obama betrayed us all by signing a deal to restrain Iran's nuclear program, Donald Trump wasn't the one taking the craziest position on the issue. That's not because he was being unusually temperate, but because his fellow candidates were almost all making the same ludicrous promise: As soon as they took office they'd tear up this horrible agreement, whereupon the Iranians would presumably come crawling back, begging to give us whatever we demanded.

Of course, the idea of tearing up the nuclear agreement, which was painstakingly negotiated between Iran, the United States, Russia, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, and the European Union, was ridiculous from the beginning. But it's especially ridiculous now that it's so clear the deal is working.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.