Trump signals he could send details of Iran deal to Congress

(CNBC)-President Donald Trump on Tuesday signaled that he’s open to sending details of the agreement with Iran to members of Congress, as lawmakers from both parties are raising questions, asking to see the accord and saying they should vote on any final deal.

Arriving at a bilateral meeting in France with United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Trump said he wouldn’t mind sending the memorandum of understanding to Congress for review. He did not indicate when Congress might receive the details. The framework was announced and signed digitally on Sunday and could bring an end to the hostilities between the U.S. and Iran that began in February.

“What I would like to do is send it to Congress and say ‘you shouldn’t approve it.’ And they will approve it,” Trump said, apparently joking. He is in Évian-les-Bains, France, for the 2026 G7 summit.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said at a press conference Tuesday he hadn’t been briefed on the agreement. “I certainly have not yet, although we are requesting that, and I assume we at some point will hear from the administration with greater specificity about what’s in that memorandum,” Thune said.

And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the Senate floor Tuesday for congressional briefings and more information to be shared with the public.

“Americans need to know what Trump has promised to Iran and what the United States will get out of it,” Schumer said.

The preliminary deal would extend the U.S.-Iran ceasefire for 60 days and create a framework for future negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program and other issues. The text of the agreement has not been released, though Trump has said he would unveil details on Friday.

The news of a deal received lukewarm reactions on Capitol Hill this week, including from some key Trump allies.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was “pleased” about a deal to potentially open the Strait of Hormuz, which was effectively shut down this spring amid the conflict, disrupting international supply chains and sending gas prices soaring. But he said Congress should have an opportunity to weigh in.

“I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming,” Graham wrote in a post to X on Sunday. “Under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote. I look forward to reviewing the final product and I believe it is imperative that the architect of the deal, Vice President [JD] Vance and his negotiating partners, be part of the process in presenting the final deal to Congress.”

Asked Tuesday about Graham’s comments, Trump said: “I have to talk to Lindsay. He will be in big trouble.”

But Graham was not alone in his skepticism.

“I mean, from what I’ve heard about it, it sounds like it’s just a deal to try to reach a deal, and the only immediate impact will be opening up the strait,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters on the Hill on Tuesday.

Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., both said Congress should not only review, but also sign off on any deal.

“I think it makes more sense because I’ve said repeatedly [President Barack] Obama made a mistake when he didn’t do the work to have it rise to a level of a treaty, and I believe we should here,” Tillis said, referring to Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was not formally codified by Congress.

“Otherwise, it’s only good for 2½ years. How does [the] market price in any certainty with the uncertainty of the next president accepting the JCPOA in the same way that this president rejected the JCPOA?” said Tillis, who is retiring at the end of this Congress.

Others questioned some of the rumored provisions in the deal they haven’t seen, including a $300 billion Iran reconstruction fund that Vance and other senior administration officials have said is possible and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

Vance, however, said reports that Iran could receive up to $24 billion in frozen assets are false. And Trump on Monday posted to TruthSocial that any claims of the U.S. paying Iran $300 billion to rebuild were “Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats!!!”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he was concerned the deal could contain too many concessions to the Iran.

“I think this peace agreement could well be a surrender in effect,” Blumenthal said. “And the president is very reluctant to make it public. He wants to keep it secret as long as possible, so that he can frame perceptions and potentially deceive people about what’s in it.”

Vance, in an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, said many details of the deal still need to be ironed out. The two major provisions, according to Vance, are reopening the Strait of Hormuz and a commitment from Iran not to develop nuclear weapons. Trump has repeatedly said preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is a key objective of the war.

“There are a lot of very important details to figure out that we’re actually going to sit at the table and discuss together and figure out a path forward on these details,” Vance said.

An official signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday in Geneva.

Trump, on Tuesday, said the Strait of Hormuz was already beginning to open to shipping traffic.

“Ships are starting to move now,” Trump said. “Oil is starting to go and prices are coming down rapidly.”

Reuters also reported on Tuesday that in a June 11 memorandum Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, which gives the president broad authority to control domestic industries. Trump cited “systemic constraints” in the munitions industry.

“There was a lot of valuable equipment that was sent to Ukraine that we could use right now,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said on Tuesday in response to Trump’s invocation of the DPA. “But I think, writ large, I’ve been saying for a long time we have to have a greater sense of urgency, and I think this administration has shown it on rebuilding our industrial base.”