Trump calls out Obama in first live remarks after deadly strikes in Iran

National security experts dispute President Donald Trump’s claims about Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

President Donald Trump called out former President Barack Obama in his first live, extended remarks on the U.S.’s deadly joint strikes with Israel in Iran during a White House press gaggle on Tuesday.

Members of the White House press pool, including theGrio, were in the Oval Office as Trump met with Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany, to discuss the brewing war in the Middle East, trade, and the ongoing war in Europe between Ukraine and Russia. Trump defended his unilateral decision to strike Iran, including its military, intelligence, and infrastructure sites, among other targets, including a girls’ school that killed civilians and children.

“We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first,” Trump told reporters. Defending his June 2025 strikes in Iran, known as Operation Midnight Hammer, the president argued that Iran would have had a “very powerful nuclear weapon within one month.”

At one point, Trump did something he often does in public remarks by denigrating his predecessor, Obama. The president said Obama’s 2015 arms deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was the “worst deal I’ve ever seen” and that had he not terminated the agreement in 2018, Iran would be “sitting with a massive nuclear weapon three years ago.”

“[The nuclear weapon] would have been used already on Israel…and other countries also,” said Trump. “[Obama] went the exact opposite way and I terminated that.”

Trump continued, “He was giving them billions of dollars, but worse, he was giving them the right to have the path to a nuclear weapon. And that deal expired. A lot of people said, ‘Oh, you terminated.’ Well, it was going to be terminated anyway because it expired. It gave them the right to have a top-of-the-line nuclear weapon.”

The deal, which was also signed by several world powers, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, and Russia, was not set to expire until 2025 and was hailed by experts.

While it is true that the Obama administration delivered cash to Iran as part of its strategic deal to deter Iran’s nuclear proliferation, it’s worth clarifying that the funds delivered to the Islamic state belonged to Iran. The U.S. was simply returning Iran’s own frozen assets that were initially sanctioned to cripple the country’s nuclear program.

Under the deal reached with the Obama administration, Iran received the funds after successfully completing a list of demands to prevent its ability to obtain a nuclear weapon, including shipping thousands of pounds of enriched uranium out of the country; dismantling and removing two-thirds of its centrifuges; removing the calandria from its heavy water reactor, and filling it with concrete; and providing unprecedented access to its nuclear facilities and supply chain.

Despite Trump’s claims that the Obama deal was the “worst” he’d seen, national security experts have maintained that Obama’s deal was effective.

Asha Castlberry-Hernandez, a U.S. Army veteran who worked in the Middle East, told theGrio that Obama’s Iran deal “worked.”

“Even President Trump’s former Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State said they wanted to stay in because it was working. Iran was committed to the terms,” she explained. “After President Trump withdrew from the JCPAO (Iran Deal), the United States lost leverage
to prevent Iran from building its first nuclear bomb.”

Castleberry-Hernandez, founder of the Diversity in National Security Network, said there were two major benefits to Obama’s deal: Iran was committed to no longer developing its nuclear program, and the deal eased tensions between the United States and Iran, fostering more diplomacy.

In remarks touting the results of JCPOA in 2016, President Obama said, “We’re seeing what’s possible with strong American diplomacy,” adding, “Ensuring the security of the United States and the safety of our people demands a smart, patient and disciplined approach to the world.”

The Nobel Peace Prize winner lamented, “Our differences with Iran meant that our governments almost never spoke to each other. Ultimately, that did not advance America’s interests. Over the years, Iran moved closer and closer to having the ability to build a nuclear weapon.”

Obama continued, “But from Presidents Franklin Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, the United States has never been afraid to pursue diplomacy with our adversaries. And as President, I decided that a strong, confident America could advance our national security by engaging directly with the Iranian government.”