Donald Trump Jr. tore into Sen. Ted Cruz after the Texas Republican warned that President Donald Trump’s Iran deal could hand Tehran a financial windfall before the regime gives up anything nuclear.
The intra-MAGA clash followed Trump’s signing of a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran during the G7 summit in France.
The agreement quickly set off alarm inside the president’s own party, where some Republicans fear the preliminary pact gives Iran too much and the United States too little.
At the center of the dispute is a proposed “$300 billion reconstruction and development fund for Iran,” which critics say could hand the regime a massive financial lifeline.
Cruz said the deal appeared to reflect bad guidance around the president.
The Obama Iran nuclear deal was designed to give Iran nuclear weapons, so to say that President Trump's efforts are just like Obama's is absurd.
I do want to urge the president not to give up the victory; we have destroyed their military, and we should not fund the rebuild.… pic.twitter.com/DqUnJBR83Q
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 17, 2026
“What has been released so far suggests that, unfortunately, the president is getting, I think, very poor advice when it comes to this deal,” Cruz said as he criticized the proposal.
“History teaches that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is a bad idea,” Cruz added.
Cruz claimed the deal could let billions flow to the Ayatollah before Tehran makes a nuclear concession.
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“I think the president is receiving some very poor advice on this deal,” Cruz said in comments to The Hill.
Trump Jr. fired back after reading Cruz’s criticism, accusing the senator of misrepresenting the agreement to damage the president.
“Is lying thru his teeth,” Trump Jr. posted. “We’re not giving them a cent and he knows that.”
“Using fake news about the deal to undermine @realDonaldTrump is the opposite of MAGA,” the first son added.
The only problem with this quote is that @tedcruz is lying thru his teeth about the deal. We're not giving them a cent and he knows that. Using fake news about the peace deal to undermine @realDonaldTrump is the opposite of MAGA. https://t.co/X2q3jesxc3
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 17, 2026
The administration’s position is that the reconstruction fund would be tied to sanctions relief and unfrozen Iranian assets, not U.S. taxpayer money.
The Trump administration has insisted that American taxpayer dollars will not finance the fund.
That distinction has not quieted the backlash. Cruz argued that any cash reaching Iran would ultimately strengthen the same regime Trump had just attacked militarily.
“I think that’s ill-advised,” Cruz warned. “That money, if it goes to the Ayatollah, will go to fund terrorists trying to kill Americans and weapons that will be used to kill Americans.”
Cruz also pointed to the Strait of Hormuz, warning that the MOU still leaves Iran in control of the oil chokepoint.
“It is difficult to see what possible benefit to America could come from that.”
Cruz separated his criticism of the deal from Trump’s military campaign, praising the president’s strikes while keeping his anger aimed at the aftermath.
He said Trump “was exactly right to initiate military action against Iran, because for 47 years the regime has been waging war against America.”
Cruz also called Iran “the world’s leading funder of terrorism” and accused the regime of “murdering Americans” since the Islamic Revolution.
But he argued that rebuilding what Trump had bombed would erase the point of the military action.
“It is not remotely in America’s interest for us to pay to rebuild that capacity that we just took out.”
Cruz was not the only Republican warning that the deal could become a political and strategic disaster.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, fresh off a Trump-backed primary defeat, reached for a Reagan-era rebuke.
“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” he posted on social media.
Cassidy’s complaint was that the deal failed to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and rewarded Tehran’s pressure campaign in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Before the war, the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions and 13 service members were still alive,” Cassidy wrote.
“Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted and the bombing has stopped.”
“This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades,” Cassidy concluded.
Vice President JD Vance used “The Megyn Kelly Show” to defend both the strike decision and the administration’s legal footing.
He said congressional approval was not required because the conflict was not a full-scale war in the conventional or legal sense.
Vance also took a swipe at hawkish Republicans who backed the strikes but objected to ending the fighting.
“But it is kind of ironic that they’re really, really worried about stopping this thing, while they were completely gung-ho about starting this thing,” he said.
Other Republicans defended the memorandum. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky landed on Trump’s side, though for different reasons.
I just had a very lengthy and productive discussion with @SEPeaceMissions @SteveWitkoff about the state of play regarding Iran.
After this discussion, it is my opinion that signing the MOU will be beneficial to the United States, in as much as the Strait of Hormuz will begin to…— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 17, 2026
Graham framed the MOU as worth testing if it gets ships moving and stops the fighting.
“Whether or not the United States can reach an acceptable, verifiable deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program and other issues is yet to be determined, but I see little downside to trying.”
Paul framed the backlash as coming from the same foreign policy crowd he has opposed for years.
“I’ve spent my career warning against regime change wars, nation-building, and endless military entanglements,” Paul posted on X. “The same voices now attacking Trump’s Iran deal are the architects of every failed intervention of my lifetime. This war must end. I stand with President Trump on peace.”
I've spent my career warning against regime change wars, nation-building, and endless military entanglements. The same voices now attacking Trump's Iran deal are the architects of every failed intervention of my lifetime.
This war must end. I stand with President Trump on peace.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 17, 2026
Trump also acknowledged Wednesday that the MOU does not strip Iran of every ballistic missile.
“I mean, they have to have some, because other people have some. You got to have some,” Trump said at the news conference.
He downplayed the missile issue by saying missiles “hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet.”
Asked how that squared with Operation Epic Fury’s missile targets, Trump argued the U.S. had already destroyed about 85% of Iran’s arsenal.
Trump stressed that the paper agreement would not protect Iran if Tehran breaks the understanding.
“If they don’t honor the agreement, or some things aren’t even mentioned in the agreement, it’s a memorandum of understanding, but we have an understanding of certain things without writing it,” Trump said.
“If they don’t honor that, we’ll probably go back to bombing them until they honor it,” Trump added, saying “it’s amazing what bombs can do.”
Trump joked that Vance could take the blame if the deal collapses.
“I like that idea. This way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD. You better be careful, JD. He’s going to turn his plane around and get the hell out of here,” Trump said.
Trump also tied the deal to oil pressure, warning that reserves were weeks from running dangerously low. “We run out of reserves at about four weeks,” Trump said.
He warned there would be “bedlam” if the ships stopped moving.
“What this does is it allows the ships to go,” Trump said of the Iran deal. “If we keep bombing, those ships won’t be going.”
