SouthernWorldwide.com – The White House has launched strong criticism against Senator Ted Cruz and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, dismissing their concerns about President Donald Trump’s peace and denuclearization negotiations with Iran as nothing more than harmful interference.
While Trump worked late into the night attempting to finalize a last-minute agreement with Iran, his inner circle at the White House was actively pushing back against critics from the right who were attempting to undermine the peace efforts or allegedly misusing their remaining security clearances.
Steven Cheung, a White House communications official, was particularly direct in his assessment of Pompeo’s comments. “Mike Pompeo has no idea what he’s talking about,” Cheung wrote in a scathing post on social media Saturday night. “He should shut his mouth and leave the real work to the professionals. He hasn’t been briefed on what’s actually happening, so how would he possibly know.”
Pompeo had drawn the ire of the White House by suggesting that any impending Trump deal with Iran would essentially replicate the kind of capitulation to Iran’s nuclear weapons program that characterized the Obama-era agreement.
In his post, Pompeo wrote: “The deal being discussed with Iran appears to come directly from the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook: Pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world. This is not America First by any stretch.”
He further stated: “It’s straightforward: Open the strait. Deny Iran access to money. Take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in the region. Overdue. Let’s go.”
Sebastian Gorka, another Trump ally, while not confirming specifics from Pompeo’s post, suggested that the former secretary of state might be “illegally” abusing his residual high-level security clearance. Gorka wrote: “You have no knowledge of what is being negotiated in secret. If you did, you would be in possession of information illegally provided to you and which you are wholly unauthorized to have or share.”
He then directly asked: “So are you a liar or a criminal, Pompeo?”
Cruz also faced sharp backlash for suggesting that Trump’s peace efforts would fail because they involved releasing “billions of dollars” to the Iranian regime. In his Saturday post, Cruz expressed deep concern about the emerging deal, stating: “President Trump’s decision to strike Iran was the most consequential decision of his second term. He was right to do so, and we achieved extraordinary military results — including destroying all of their missiles and drones and sinking their entire navy.”
However, Cruz warned: “If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’ — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium and develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake.”
He continued: “The details are still coming out — and I pray the early reports are wrong — but the fact that Biden’s Rob Malley is praising the deal is not encouraging. President Trump believes in peace through strength, and his strong leadership has already made America much safer. He should continue to hold the line, defend America and enforce the red lines he has repeatedly drawn.”
This criticism prompted a response from one of Trump’s outside political advisors, with Bruesewitz firing back on social media: “Cool, Ted. No one asked you, bro. Stop trying to undermine the President and his administration.”
Cruz retorted, suggesting that Trump’s inner circle might be promoting Obama-era “Iran appeasement.” He replied: “Hush, child. The adults are talking. I’m not your ‘bro.’ And young political grifters pushing Iran appeasement are not remotely helping the President.”
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Despite the criticism from some quarters, a prominent anti-war voice from the Senate Republican side urged critics to give Trump space to work. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky wrote Sunday morning: “War virtually always ends with negotiations. Critics of President Trump’s peace negotiations should give President Trump the space to find an America First solution.”
