Democrats Hate Trump’s Iran Deal. They’re Backing It Anyway.

Congressional Democrats believe President Donald Trump made an enormous mistake launching a costly war against Iran. But many of them are welcoming news of a tentative peace deal, even if it reportedly gives more favorable terms to Iran than to the U.S.

“It’s essentially a surrender to Iran on Iran’s terms,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) told NOTUS. “Now, I will support that surrender, because this crowd of incompetent national security leaders is making the situation worse every day. I think the only thing we can do is end the war, but I mean, Iran gets everything they want out of this – sanctions relief, implicit control of the Strait of Hormuz, no commitments on nuclear program.”

“It’s a disaster, but it’s probably a necessary disaster,” he said.

“An off-ramp to a war we never should have gotten into in the first place is a good thing,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia). “It’s just so needless that we had to lose 13 troops, spend billions of dollars, impose economic costs on American families in the world, to get to a place that’s probably worse off than where we were on February 27.”

Details of the memorandum of agreement between the U.S. and Iran are scant, but the deal is set to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and extend the ceasefire for 60 days while negotiators hammer out a broader agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s ability to procure or develop nuclear weapons. It reportedly would allow for the lifting of sanctions on the Iranian regime and unfreeze Iranian assets if the regime takes steps to eliminate its nuclear program.

Top White House officials have been busy assuring skeptics that it’s in fact a good deal, but plenty of Iran hawks still have concerns.

There have also been reports that the Iranian regime is planning to charge a fee for ships navigating the critical Strait of Hormuz, where Iran choked off the flow of international shipping, spiking prices of energy and consumer goods in an effort to pressure the U.S. to end the war. Prior to the start of the conflict, ships could pass freely through the body of water.

“I’m glad that there’s a ceasefire, but jeez, what a shit show,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) said Tuesday.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), meanwhile, used a poker analogy to describe Trump’s dealmaking skills.

“I think this was probably the best available option, but it’s sort of like shoving 80 percent of your chips in on the flop and the turn, and then folding on the river,” Schatz said. “It’s smart, but you’ve already screwed up multiple times.”

Vice President JD Vance, who seems to be the administration’s public relations point man for the Iran deal, has argued that the war was a success because it destroyed much of Iran’s navy and ballistic missile production capacity.

“We don’t commit to doing anything as part of this deal, so the United States wins either way,” Vance told Fox News. “If the Iranian people want greater prosperity, then their leadership has to set up and change their behavior. If they do, great, if they don’t, the United States has already gotten a lot.”

The fact that no one has seen the memorandum of understanding has caused bipartisan frustration on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a member of the Gang of Eight, the group of top lawmakers that is briefed on sensitive intelligence matters, said he hasn’t seen it and has asked the White House for a copy. Vance, meanwhile, told ABC News that the White House would release the text of the agreement later this week.

President Trump said on Tuesday he would send the deal to Congress to review, but it’s unclear when that would happen, or if Congress would ultimately vote on the details of the agreement.

“Who wouldn’t approve it?” Trump told reporters, after joking that if he told Democrats they shouldn’t approve of the deal they would all back it.

“If it was so great, wouldn’t the president have printed it on gold leaf paper and sent it out to all of us?” asked Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada).