Speaking of throwing cash at enemies he can’t beat by other means, Donald Trump is trying to end his failed war with Iran by offering them $300 billion:
The Trump administration is considering establishing a $300 billion investment fund for Iran if Tehran adheres to a ceasefire agreement that includes a nuclear deal, according to a Monday Financial Times report.
The financial incentives would be tied to Iran’s adherence to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be signed by Washington and Tehran in Switzerland on Friday, the report said.
…The fund would be created to attract investment in Iran’s abundant energy resources. “There is interest from a lot of businesses in Europe, a lot in Asia, South Korea, Japan, etc., and American companies and businesses as well,” the person said. “If the sanctions are lifted, this fund would be a significant amount, and it will be huge.”
US Vice President JD Vance told CBS News that the fund would be “the sort of thing [Iran] could have access to . . . so long as they honor their end of the obligation” [Ariella Roitman, “Trump Admin. Considering $300 Billion Investment Fund if Iran Upholds Ceasefire—Report,” The Jerusalem Post, 2026.06.16].
Don’t worry: Vance and Trump don’t appear to be offering American taxpayer dollars to Iran. They’re offering investments from other countries, including the Gulf neighbors that Iran attacked.
But $300 billion in outside investment is six times the amount of Iran’s own assets that the Obama Administration unfroze to secure its deal with Iran to refrain from making nuclear weapons. Three months ago, Trump criticized that sanction relief and said he would send Iran money:
They were—if we didn’t do the attack—or if—I’ll go a step further. If I didn’t terminate the Iran nuclear deal given to us—one of the worst deals ever made by Barack Hussein Obama.
Remember when they sent Boeing 757s over there loaded with cash? Hundreds of millions of dollars. You would have been very happy. This was a wonderful—they sent hundreds of million—people forget that. Does anybody remember? Right? You remember hundreds of millions of dollars in a Boeing 757. I think they had two of them loaded. They took the seats out, and they put cash. And it was so much that there wasn’t a bank in Virginia, Maryland, or DC that had any money left. They stripped them of all their money, put it into planes, sent it to Iran almost as ransom.
That’s not going to happen with Trump [Donald Trump, comments at White House, transcribed by The American Presidency Project, 2026.03.17].
Now Trump is offering $300 billion in reparations to Iran’s “very rational… strong… smart” and unchanged regime for a war he should not have started and could not win. Even Senator Lindsey Graham thinks that’s a historically bad idea:
The idea of a $300 billion reconstruction fund, given who is in charge of Iran, seems to be tone deaf. It would be akin to a Marshall Plan for Germany with the Nazis still in charge. That wouldn’t have been a good idea then, and any reconstruction fund that benefits this terrorist regime wouldn’t be a good idea now [Senator Lindsey Graham, tweet, 2026.06.16].
Rather than offer a firm rejection of bad foreign policy, Senator John Thune mumbles ignorance:
“I don’t know enough about it to say” whether it’s a good deal, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters on Monday.
The GOP leader warned that whether Senate Republicans embrace the deal will depend on whether it’s seen as enforceable, considering strong skepticism among colleagues over whether Iran can be trusted to comply with its terms.
“My understanding of what it entails — again, not having seen anything — I think the issues are going to be compliance and, ‘How you’re going to enforce that and what are the financial incentives the Iranians are going to have from our country?’” Thune said [Alexander Bolton, “Senate GOP Has Many Questions About Trump’s Iran Deal,” The Hill, 2026.06.16].
Come on, Senator Thune: what level of hypocrisy and malpractice must Donald Trump commit to make you come to your senses and reject the mess he’s making of America’s foreign policy?
Trump wages war, then arranges to pay off with other people’s money the bad guys he couldn’t beat into submission—weak, shameful, and ridiculous.
Another war lost. Tisk, tisk. Sooo Obama had the better deal too. Do tell.