Donald Trump is spending most of his time as president destabilizing the global economy, lining his pockets, arresting, detaining, and deporting immigrants without due process, destroying the public health system, bowing to dictators, and undermining democracy. But he is trying to do one good thing: resurrect a nuclear deal with Iran.
Yes, Trump is hypocritically trying to revive a deal that Barack Obama forged, Iran and five other nations signed, and that the 45th president pettily torched, which offered the best chance of keeping Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon. Nevertheless, whatever the 47th president’s motivations, removing a destabilizing atomic threat in the Middle East is an unequivocal good. Democrats, as longtime diplomacy proponents, should welcome Trump’s belated embrace of their approach.
Which is why Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s attack on Trump’s Iran negotiating strategy is terrible.
On Monday, Axios reported:
The nuclear deal proposal the U.S. gave Iran on Saturday would allow limited low-level uranium enrichment on Iranian soil for a to-be-determined period of time, Axios has learned, contradicting public statements from top officials
…White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have said publicly that the U.S. will not allow Iran to enrich uranium and will demand the full dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear facilities. The secret proposal shows far more flexibility on both points …Iran has consistently said it won’t sign any deal that bans enrichment for civilian purposes—a red line that is irreconcilable with the U.S. public posture. But the proposal …would seem to offer a clearer path to a deal.
Schumer quickly posted a video on social media saying:
When it comes to negotiating with the terrorist government of Iran, Trump’s all over the lot. One day, he sounds tough. The next day, he’s backing off. And now, all of a sudden, we find out that Witkoff and Rubio are negotiating a secret side deal with Iran.
What kind of bull is this? They’re going to sound tough in public and then have a side deal that lets Iran get away with everything? That’s outrageous. We need to make that side deal public. Any side deal should be before Congress and, most importantly, the American people. If TACO Trump is already folding, the American public should know about it. No side deals.
What’s outrageous is Schumer’s statement. Trump sounded tough, then offered a concession? That’s not being “all over the lot.” That’s negotiating.
Is Trump offering “a side deal that lets Iran get away with everything”? That’s not what Axios reported. At issue was a specified “limited low-level uranium enrichment on Iranian soil for a to-be-determined period of time.” A subsequent report from The New York Times provided more details:
The Trump administration is proposing an arrangement that would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels while the United States and other countries work out a more detailed plan intended to block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon but give it access to fuel for new nuclear power plants.
The proposal amounts to a diplomatic bridge, intended to maneuver beyond the current situation, in which Iran is rapidly producing near-bomb-grade uranium, to reach the U.S. goal of Iran enriching no uranium at all on its soil. But it is far from clear that the Iranians will go along.
Under the proposal, the United States would facilitate the building of nuclear power reactors for Iran and negotiate the construction of enrichment facilities managed by a consortium of regional countries. Once Iran began receiving any benefits from those promises, it would have to stop all enrichment in the country.
This in no way constitutes “Iran getting away with everything.” It’s another way of achieving what the Obama agreement allowed—low-level uranium enrichment, short of weapons-grade, on Iranian soil, subject to international inspections. Moreover, Iran’s Supreme Leader on Wednesday rejected the offer, seemingly insisting on enrichment on Iranian soil, posting on X, “To the American side and others we say: Why are you interfering and trying to say whether Iran should have uranium enrichment or not? That’s none of your business.”
Before Iran’s response, Schumer took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to pressure the Trump administration to reveal more about their offer:
The administration must clarify what they might be hiding from the American people in this secret side deal. Steve Witkoff and those negotiating this deal should testify before Congress and answer a simple question: Is there a secret side deal that will allow the Iranian regime to continue enriching uranium and that empowers the regime’s nefarious activity, or not?
This is demagoguery that’s antithetical to successful negotiating. During sensitive diplomacy, Congress should not pressure the White House to reveal the details of its positions. Advise and consent, says the Constitution, but not spill the beans. Leaked details of potential concessions can prompt the parties to dig in, making it less likely to find common ground. Case in point: Late Monday, Trump responded to the Axios report with an all-caps social media post, “WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!” And the Iranian Supreme Leader followed with his rebuff.
Trump was able to blow up Obama’s deal because Senate Republicans were never going to provide the support necessary to ratify any legally binding treaty, leaving Obama only with the possibility of a less firm “executive agreement.” Schumer should be signaling as party leader that Democrats would consider any deals, including a formal treaty, giving Trump guidelines but not micromanaging to reach an agreement.
