Trump Pulls Out, Shoots Self in Face (Again) 

By Ellie Shechet  |  May 8, 2018 | 7:40pm
Politics

Well, here we are again, getting blasted in the eye by an administration that behaves, in many ways, like an organ with no functioning mental capacity. At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, President Trump announced that he would be pulling out of the nuclear deal with Iran, against the wishes of a hostile, nearly-nuclear nation, our European frenemies (who plan to remain in the deal), and a likely sobbing John Kerry. But who gives a shit about my personal desire to not get nuked and the U.S.’s ability to make literally any international deal in the future when big boy’s got a campaign promise to fulfill?

“We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement,” Trump said in his speech. (Here is an outline of that agreement, which did not appear to be in decay until precisely now. During his confirmation hearing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “I’ve seen no evidence that [Iran is] not in compliance [with the nuclear deal] today.”)

Forgive me, but here’s Sen. Jeff Flake with a not-terrible explanation of the genuinely scary and rather immediate mess this decision has potentially unleashed. From the Washington Post:

“The agreement obviously had problems it didn’t address, Iran’s malign behavior or ballistic missiles. But after you’re in it and Iran has already realized the benefits of it … to now allow them to get out of their obligations on the nuclear side would be foolhardy, in my view,” Flake told reporters. “And it also says more about our willingness to work with our allies. We’re having enough problems around the world in terms of our reliability, whether it’s trade or commercial engagements or security arrangements. To add this now, at this point, would not be good for us, particularly the knock-on effects on other arrangements, perhaps with North Korea.”

This guy’s happy, though, and that’s what’s important:

Oh?

Take that, Obama!

UPDATE: Speaking of, Obama has taken the rare step to comment, at length, on Trump’s decision:

 
Join the discussion...