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Bill Maher mocked President Donald Trump’s Iran agreement Friday night, saying the president moved from demands for “unconditional surrender” to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) as the White House defended the framework as a foreign policy win.
“We got everything we wanted except for everything we asked for,” Maher said on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Maher questioned Trump’s dealmaking reputation as he compared the agreement with the president’s earlier rhetoric.
“Where’s the big dealmaker? What happened to ‘The Art of the Deal?'” Maher said. “This is his big close? I got news for you. The emperor has no clothes.”
Bill Maher mocked President Donald Trump’s Iran agreement during his “Real Time” monologue, saying the White House went from demanding “unconditional surrender” to a memorandum of understanding. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Christopher Polk/Variety/Getty Images)
TRUMP’S IRAN AGREEMENT RAISES A BASIC QUESTION: IS IT ACTUALLY A DEAL?
Maher said the agreement was not binding enough to merit the administration’s celebration.
“First of all, it’s not a deal. It's a memorandum of understanding,” Maher said. “It’s about as legally binding as the sign in the break room that says, ‘Please clean microwave.'”
Maher said the White House’s position shifted from a muscular military posture to a softer diplomatic document.
“We started with unconditional surrender, Operation Epic Fury, and now it's memorandum of understanding,” Maher said. “Last thing that got hosed this bad was my dog.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
President Donald Trump’s Iran framework drew criticism from Bill Maher, who questioned whether the agreement lived up to Trump’s reputation as a dealmaker. (Getty Images)
TRUMP PIVOTS ON STRIKES WHILE DANGLING IRAN DEAL, TESTING WHETHER TEHRAN BLINKS
The White House announced Friday that Trump and Vice President JD Vance had signed the memorandum with Iran, describing it as a “historic breakthrough” that would prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic.
The 14-point memorandum starts a 60-day negotiating window for a final agreement, calls for the U.S. and Iran to end military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and lays out steps for Washington to remove its naval blockade while Iran arranges safe commercial passage through the strait.
The agreement also says Iran “shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons” and that the two sides would work out the status of enriched material under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision.
The Strait of Hormuz remained a key flashpoint after the White House announced an Iran memorandum aimed at halting hostilities and preserving commercial shipping access. (Photo enhanced and published by maps4media via Getty Images)
READ IT: THE FULL TEXT OF THE US-IRAN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Vance defended the agreement Thursday.
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“The United States isn’t giving up a cent of money to Iran,” Vance said, adding that sanctions relief and economic benefits would come only if Tehran complied with the terms.
The framework faced a fresh test Saturday when Iran’s armed forces said they would close the Strait of Hormuz again, accusing the U.S. of failing to prevent Israeli attacks in Lebanon after the memorandum called for hostilities to end on all fronts.
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U.S. Central Command disputed that the strait had closed, saying safe passage remained intact and that 55 merchant ships carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil passed through the waterway Saturday.
