Republicans have a long list of questions about the Iran deal, and they are so far noncommittal about whether it’s even something they can support. That’s not stopping many of them from defending President Donald Trump, though, as Democrats claim the agreement is no better than the one he threw away in 2017, when he succeeded Barack Obama as president.Trump has left congressional Republicans in a strange position since brokering an agreement that, if it holds, would wind down the three-month war with Iran. Not even Senate leadership has been briefed on the contents of the deal, and they may not get an advance look before the memorandum of understanding’s expected signing in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.
For many Republicans, that means sidestepping a position on the document altogether. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that his office has requested a copy of the memo, as well as a briefing, but without success so far.
“There’s nothing really at this point to react to,” Thune said.
Yet Republicans are still feeling the pressure to defend Trump as Democrats criticize the war as a costly way to revive an Obama-style nuclear deal — or, worse yet, claim that Trump is capitulating to Iran.
