As negotiations to end the war between the U.S. and Iran continue following a memorandum of understanding signed last week by President Donald Trump, callers on C-Span’s Republican line are criticizing Trump and his administration for making the deal, saying it “is selling America out” and claiming Trump “has totally capitulated and given in to Iran.” 

Right-wing media figures have criticized the Iran deal, with some blaming Vice President JD Vance rather than criticizing Trump directly. The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro said Vance looked “weak” and called the memorandum of understanding a “disaster,” while Fox News host Brian Kilmeade commented, “It doesn't look like Iran has been brought to its knees.” Republican callers to C-Span voiced similar reservations.

• One Republican caller claimed Trump “has totally capitulated and given in to Iran.” She continued, “It was a noble goal to go into Iran to try to, you know, deal with a problem that's been 50 years in the making,” adding, “But it appears that there's some incompetency in our government, whether it's the Defense Department or intelligence or whatever.” [C-Span, Washington Journal, 6/18/26]
• A Texas Republican caller said, “I just can't help but feel that this deal is selling America out.” He criticized Iran, saying, “They just don't want peace with anybody. You know, I don't know what else to say. Somebody's got to stop this crazy deal.” [C-Span, Washington Journal, 6/21/26]
• Another caller claimed, “I think that a peace deal with Iran is unachievable right now.” The caller blamed Iran for the inability to create a deal, saying, “And I think the Democrats really forget what kind of set this all off. They murdered 30,000 of their own citizens, 30,000-plus. I think there just wasn't enough footage to kind of put out there so that people could see these guys for who they are. I think definitely a peace deal is unachievable.” [C-Span, Washington Journal, 6/21/26]
• One Republican caller criticized the potential deal for not dealing with Iran’s ballistic missile program and questioned the $300 billion proposed to rebuild Iran’s infrastructure. The caller said: “I have two points. No. 1, ballistic missile program. Secretary Rubio clearly said when he testified before Congress that we needed to eliminate their ballistic missile program so that they cannot create an umbrella of protection to protect their nuclear program. There's nothing in the deal about the ballistic program. And also, what's that $300 billion for? If we didn't destroy their civilian infrastructure and all we went after was their military, why are we letting them rebuild their military?” [C-Span, Washington Journal, 6/21/26]
• Another caller criticized the U.S. negotiation team, saying, “My main question is, and my main puzzlement is, where is Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” adding later, “This is not starting off in a way that has the right team of people there to negotiate.” He also said that Rubio is “the leading diplomat of the United States. I don't see him in this picture. I see negotiators. I see the vice president.” [C-Span, Washington Journal, 6/21/26]
• A Republican caller from New York said that without regime change in Iran, “there is no success”: “It’s a failure, and Trump has failed.” The caller said, “If these demon ayatollahs are still murdering their own people, there is no success. If the Straits of Hormuz or whatever is open but the people are still being persecuted, there is no success. It's a failure, and Trump has failed.” [C-Span, Washington Journal, 6/22/26]