President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would be open to sending details of a new U.S.-Iran peace deal to Congress, even as lawmakers from both parties said they should vote on any final deal and demanded to see the accord. 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, but the text has not been released. For now, the people most affected by the war and its fallout are being asked to wait while the deal is handled above their heads.
Trump, arriving at a bilateral meeting in France with United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said he would not mind sending the memorandum of understanding to Congress for review, though he did not say when Congress might receive the details. He is in Évian-les-Bains, France, for the 2026 G7 summit. The arrangement is being negotiated and staged through elite channels, with the public left to watch the machinery of power from the outside.
Who Gets to See the Deal
"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. The line landed like a reminder that the whole process runs through institutions that claim to represent people while keeping the actual terms out of reach. 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. An official signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday in Geneva. The timeline keeps the agreement in the hands of presidents, senators, and negotiators, while everyone else is expected to accept the finished product after the fact.
Congress Wants a Role, But Not the Whole Picture
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said at a press conference Tuesday he had not 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. 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 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."
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said, "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." 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. Tillis said, "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." He added, "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?" Tillis said he is retiring at the end of this Congress.
What the Powerful Are Arguing Over
Others questioned some of the rumored provisions in the deal they had not 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 said reports that Iran could receive up to $24 billion in frozen assets are false. 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 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.
Trump said Tuesday 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." The language of relief comes from the top, while the costs of war, shipping disruption, and price shocks are carried by everyone below the negotiating table.