Iranian diplomats engaged in peace talks with the United States have resorted to reading Donald Trump's 1987 book The Art of the Deal to make sense of his erratic negotiation style, according to The Wall Street Journal. The book, co-authored with journalist Tony Schwartz, spent 48 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and is being used by the Iranian delegation to gain insight into how the president approaches decisions.
Trump's Erratic Threats and Praise
Throughout the war and especially since negotiations to end it began, Trump has swung between praise for the Iranian regime and destructive threats. In early June, about a week before both nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at sowing the seeds of peace, Trump threatened to 'bomb the s*** out of' Iran if it did not sign an agreement with the US. In April, as Trump pressed for Iran to 'make a deal', he wrote on Truth Social: 'A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,' a threat widely condemned across the world.
This weekend, as talks continued between delegations in Switzerland, Trump threatened Iranian officials over any attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important oil shipping routes. According to accounts of the exchange, Trump warned: 'You won't even make it back to your fu*king country.'
Iran's Chief Negotiator Responds
After Trump's latest threat, Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told his US counterpart JD Vance that the threats were a breach of the MoU's opening paragraph, which had been signed just a few days prior. Ghalibaf told Iranian state TV: 'I told Vance, “Today your president has issued threats. Understand that we never negotiate under threats or pressure.” The American side sought another meeting through the mediators, but we refused.' Ghalibaf later boasted that the deal struck between the United States and Iran was effectively an admission of defeat by Washington.
US Senate Approves War Powers Resolution
Many within Trump's Republican party have been critical of the deal, as legislators attempt to stop the war through the Senate. The US Senate has for the first time approved a war powers resolution amid growing concerns from a number of Republican legislators in both the House and Senate over both the war and the deal Trump struck with Iran to end it. The House of Representatives approved the resolution earlier this month.
'Time after time, the vast majority of Senate Republicans sided with Trump and his war instead of the American people,' said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Schumer said Americans have paid the price for 'Trump's historic blunder in Iran. It'll go down in the history books as one of the worst foreign policy forays America has ever made.' In the past, as many as four Republican senators have voted for the war powers resolutions, and they did so on Tuesday – Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
