CNN Was Right. I Was Wrong.

Conservative media often criticize the “mainstream press” for getting it wrong, but it is only fair to acknowledge that conservative media get it wrong, too.

And when it comes to President Trump’s disastrous attempt this year at playing war chief, a whole lot of conservatives got it wrong, this author included.

Following the president’s signing last week of his “Memorandum of Understanding” with Iran — a temporary “peace” agreement that gives Tehran everything and the United States zilch — there’s nothing left except to concede that America was done in by a few naval mines. Iran actually forced a desperate White House to the negotiating table simply by flexing what muscles it has left over the Strait of Hormuz. The largest, most powerful, and best-funded military in the history of the world was defeated somehow by a shipping lane.

Our British cousins must be having flashbacks to the Suez Canal.

The most astonishing thing about the White House’s capitulation to Iran, beyond the Islamic Republic’s victory in the face of a clear power disparity, is that it proves the administration jumped into the war with no real consideration or plan for the possibility that its opponent might block the Strait of Hormuz.

This despite U.S. military strategists having warned for decades about this exact scenario.

This is where conservative media, this author included, owe an apology to everybody, most especially CNN.

In March, the cable network published a hard-to-believe exclusive, claiming that “Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the [Strait of Hormuz] in response to strikes.”

In response, I suggested that there was “no need to consider the [story’s] sourcing or the outlet” because “this claim is completely unbelievable on its face.”

Even considering Trump’s impulsivity and the general inability of his inner circle to restrain him, it seemed inconceivable that the United States, from the White House down through the Pentagon’s senior leadership, would launch a shooting war with Iran without first establishing a contingency plan for the one thing that every U.S. strategist and defense official has recognized since 1979 as the greatest obstacle to such a conflict.

Boy, was I wrong.

CNN later updated its reporting to explain that “Trump administration officials briefed lawmakers on long-standing military plans to address a major disruption to the Strait, according to one official, but that multiple sources familiar with the session said there was no indication there were any near-term solutions.” I criticized this framing as well, given that the clarification seemed way off from the first claim.

Again, I apologize. CNN was right. I was wrong.

This iteration of the Trump presidency is exactly as inept as advertised.

Everything the U.S. has done in this conflict — from the president’s impotent screaming on social media to the administration’s getting jerked around in negotiations to its eventually agreeing to hand Iran everything — points to one painful and embarrassing reality: The White House went to war with no plan to counter or neutralize Iran’s most important asset.

Thus, after months of military action by the U.S., in which the Iranian navy, leadership, and Revolutionary Guard were reduced to rubble, the White House has signed an agreement that allows Iran to keep its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The U.S. has also agreed to lift its naval blockade of Iran, to terminate “all types of sanctions,” to waive sanctions on oil sales, and to make “fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” On that last point, it’s important to note that the agreement states explicitly that “such funds, whether retained in the original accounts or transferred, may be fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

In other words, the deal allows Iran, the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, to designate any beneficiary for the unfrozen funds. Use your imagination.

The White House also agreed to head up a fund with Gulf states to pump “at least” $300 billion into Iran for “reconstruction” and “economic development.”

In return, the U.S. gets little more than Iran’s solemn oath that it will not build a nuke.

The agreement also temporarily reopens the Strait of Hormuz, but only until such time as Tehran decides to shut it down again, because it can do that and there is nothing anyone, not even the U.S., can do about it.

This is key. Don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise.

The agreement has nothing to do with the U.S.’s stated goals at the outset of the war. It has nothing to do with degrading Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The “understanding” is no more complicated than a desperate play to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and toss away America’s leverage to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

It’s a deal so bad that it could only have been devised by the type of man who would lose money as a casino owner.

And if you don’t think the agreement stinks on ice, just remember that when the details first leaked, its architects — most notably Vice President J.D. Vance — claimed the information, which would eventually prove true, was merely “Iranian propaganda.”

It’s a deal so great that its designers had to lie about it.

Meanwhile, Iran still has thousands of missiles, with billions of dollars in sanctions relief coming soon, which will undoubtedly be used to rebuild its arsenal and fund its terrorist proxies.

The memorandum is a humiliation for the U.S.

A theocratic death cult responsible for thousands of dead Americans is being handed everything but the kitchen sink. The only thing the U.S. has to show in return is a document that amounts to an unconditional surrender — that and the loss of at least a dozen U.S. servicemen.

Happy 250th anniversary.

A version of this article appeared originally in The Hill on June 22, 2026.