While Vice President JD Vance was in Switzerland attempting to broker a peace deal with Iran, President Donald Trump appeared to undermine the negotiations with a vulgar threat. After initial talks on Sunday, Vance told the media that progress had been made, stating, “We are looking to transform, fundamentally, the relationship with Iran.”
Trump's Vulgar Threat Breaks Diplomatic Precedent
MSNBC analyst Richard Stengel, a former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy under President Barack Obama, agreed with host Ayman Mohyeldin that Vance's statement was hopeful. However, Stengel noted that Trump then broke a precedent dating back thousands of years. “I thought it was powerful and it was hopeful,” Stengel said. “And then Trump, you know, in the most puerile, adolescent way, you know, threatens the talks.”
While Vance met with Iranian diplomats, Trump warned the delegation against keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed. “You close it, and you won’t have a country,” Trump said on Fox News. “You won’t even make it back to your fucking country.”
Negotiators Walk Out in Protest
Negotiators walked out in protest, and Stengel said they had every reason to. “If there is one taboo in the history of diplomacy going back to the Peloponnesian War, is you do not threaten envoys, no matter how opposed you are,” he said. “And there he is, threatening envoys.”
Stengel further argued that Trump violated the agreement he signed just days earlier. “The number one plank in the Memorandum of Understanding says both parties must refrain from threats of force,” Stengel said. “He’s already violated that a dozen times.”
