Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Trump’s Deal With Iran That Leaves Americans Paying The Price For His Incompetence

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor slamming Donald Trump and his administration for the disastrous so-called "understanding" with Iran that leaves Iran stronger and Americans paying the price for his costly war. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks which can also be viewed here:

Everyone who bought Trump's book the Art of the Deal ought to ask him for a refund because what Trump has done in Iran is the art of the disaster.

The U.S. is worse off because of Trump's incompetence, his ego, and his inability to listen to facts. Iran took Trump to the cleaners with this so-called "understanding." Iran doesn't have to cut off support for its terrorist proxies. Iran doesn't have to give up ballistic missile production. Iran doesn't have to make any hard commitments on its nuclear program now, and there's no guarantee they make any in sixty days. But Iran does get to rake in billions of dollars in oil sales, hundreds of billions of dollars in reconstruction aid, and God knows how much more in potential fees Trump may let it impose on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Not to mention the benefits Iran will get from the sanctions relief that Trump has promised with no idea of what he'll get in return.

Again: Iran took Trump to the cleaners. In Iran, the "Art of the Deal" turned into the art of disaster.

If Trump wants to send hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran - then he'll need to do so with Republican votes, because I'll tell you, Democrats certainly won't be helping Trump send $300 billion to Iran. Are my colleagues on the other side of the aisle prepared to send Iran $300 billion when economic needs are so severe here at home? That's what Trump wants them to do.

Now, back in 2015, Trump said that America's "deal with Iran will go down as one of the most incompetent ever made. The U.S. lost on virtually every point. We just don't win anymore." Trump is eating those words on a silver platter served up by Iran.

Again: in 2015 he says the "deal with Iran will go down as one of the most incompetent ever made. The U.S. lost on virtually every point. We just don't win anymore." He's eating those words now because those apply so aptly to the deal he just announced, the so-called understanding with Iran. He's eating those words on a silver platter served up by Iran. Even members of the Trump administration seem to be trying to put some distance between themselves and this so-called "understanding," telling the public not to read too far into the text and saying that there are secret deals in the works.

Well, I'll tell you right now Trump needs to reveal any secret deals to Congress and the public immediately. He's got to do it right away. If the secret deals are anywhere near as bad as the "understanding" we have seen, we need to know about them. Americans need to know how Trump plans to do it.

Crucially, Americans are wondering what they got out of this war because Trump's blunder has left our country worse off by every measure. 13 Americans have been killed, hundreds more wounded. The Iranian regime is richer and more radical than before Trump's war. Iran has greater control over the Strait of Hormuz than before the war. Gas prices are still much higher than before the war, with families having paid hundreds of dollars extra to fill up their tanks these past few months. The cost of everything from groceries to basic household necessities are higher than before the war as well.

Trump's so-called "understanding" is the culmination and representation of his ruinous strategy in Iran since day one - and his inability to govern in general.

In Iran and in so much else he does, Trump leads by whim, by ego, by greed. His strategy doesn't work in the time of peace, and it certainly doesn't work in the time of war. He's about the most incompetent president we have ever seen. In Iran, as in everything, the American people pay the price for Trump's incompetence.

So, as I've been saying for months, it's long past time that Trump end this war, which never should have started in the first place.

###