Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Iranian nuclear agreement—which he made official on Tuesday—has been coming since at least September 9, 2015, when he appeared at a rally in Washington, D.C., alongside Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, and Phil Robertson, of “Duck Dynasty.” That was the occasion on which Trump said, “Never, ever, ever in my life have I seen any transaction so incompetently negotiated as our deal with Iran.”
His remarks that day were mostly focussed on the thing that Trump is almost always focussed on: money. He talked about the money that Iran would get access to because of sanctions relief, and the money that would flow to America's partners in the agreement—Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia—thanks to trade deals. “All of these countries are going to do business with Iran,” Trump said. “They are going to make lots of money . . . . And we're going to get nothing. We are led by very, very stupid people.” And yet, what he didn't mention was that, as a result of the deal, U.S. companies would be allowed to do business in Iran. They'd make money, too.
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