Sen. Ted Cruz tore into President Donald Trump’s Iran memorandum of understanding, focusing on a clause that commits the U.S. and regional partners to develop a $300 billion reconstruction and economic-development plan. Cruz said the money would ultimately be
Sen. Ted Cruz didn’t wait for a full-throated public debate to fire his broadside. On Friday, in a podcast episode, the Texas Republican zeroed in on one line of President Donald Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran—an amount Cruz called so reckless it didn’t even matter who pays it.
At issue is a commitment laid out in Point 6 of the MOU. Signed late on Wednesday night in Versailles. the document states that “The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive. mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”.
Cruz first raised objections on Wednesday on The Daily Wire. attacking the portion of the plan tied to the $300 billion redevelopment figure. That criticism quickly drew a response from Donald Trump Jr. who posted on X that “The only problem with this quote is that @tedcruz is lying thru his teeth about the deal. We’re not giving them a cent, and he knows that.”.
On Friday, Cruz returned to the fight with even sharper language. Speaking via Verdict with Ted Cruz, he told conservative radio host Ben Ferguson that he believes Trump is “getting very poor advice.”
Cruz then delivered what has become his central argument: that the deal’s promise of billions for Iran would not flow where it’s supposed to. “History teaches a very simple proposition. ” he said. describing the plan as a move that hands “billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us” and calling it “a very. very bad idea.”.
He went further about what he thinks would happen next. “I think that if the Ayotollah gets $300 billion, that money will be used to fund terrorism and to murder Americans.”
The exchange sharpened when Ferguson raised a key rebuttal point: that “we’re not writing that check.” Cruz’s response was blunt. “I don’t care where it comes from,” he said. “I don’t want a lunatic religious fanatic who chants ‘death to America’ to receive $300 billion. whether it comes from us or it comes from some other regional partners; I don’t care where it comes from.”.
He said giving funds to people who want to kill the U.S. remains a mistake regardless of the source. “Giving people who want to kill you billions and billions of dollars, from any source, historically has proven an enormous mistake.”
The clip of Cruz’s comments was posted as a full segment above via @VerdictwithTedCruz on YouTube, extending a back-and-forth that began with his Wednesday objections and was met immediately by Trump Jr.’s denial that the U.S. would contribute any money.
Ted Cruz Donald Trump Iran memorandum of understanding Versailles $300 billion reconstruction plan regional partners Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah terrorism