Gingrich Applauds Trump’s Iran Agreement: ‘It Is Hard to Understand What They Thought the Alternative Should Be’

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich praised President Donald Trump’s agreement with Iran, saying that the deal represents a major foreign policy achievement and a realistic alternative to either appeasing Tehran or committing U.S. troops to another large-scale Middle East conflict.

In a post published on his website, Gingrich said Trump had assembled a broad international coalition while using economic and military pressure to push Iran away from its previous position. He dismissed criticism of the agreement from both the right and left, arguing that many opponents had attacked the deal before seeing its details.

“Negotiating with Iran, monitoring its commitments and occasionally having to pressure the dictatorship militarily or economically is simply reality. (Remember Ronald Reagan’s advice to ‘Trust but verify’ and Connie Mack’s ‘You get what you inspect, not what you expect.’) There will be no end to the requirement to police, monitor, and occasionally penalize the religious dictatorship,” Gingrich wrote. “The leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will try to push for as much influence and flexibility as they can get away with. It’s simply their nature.”

Gingrich then defended Trump’s agreement with Iran, arguing that many critics have attacked the deal before seeing its details and have failed to offer a realistic alternative.

“A lot of people on the right and left have already criticized the upcoming agreement — even when they have never seen it,” Gingrich wrote. “It is hard to understand what they thought the alternative should be.”

Gingrich argued that Trump successfully navigated between what he described as the Obama-Biden approach toward Iran and a costly military invasion, while preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“President Trump steered a course between the Barack Obama-Joe Biden appeasement model and strategy which would have required a huge ground invasion,” Gingrich wrote. “He used our technological strengths in airpower and intelligence capabilities to bludgeon the religious dictatorship into positions far distant from where they were under Obama and Biden.”

The former Speaker also praised Trump’s coalition-building efforts, saying many nations have joined Washington in seeking to contain the Iranian regime and promote greater stability in the Middle East.

“President Trump has been managing a broad coalition which is committed to a more stable Middle East and is prepared to work together despite Iranian attacks,” Gingrich wrote.

Since Gingrich published the post, it has been reported that Trump  signed an agreement with Iran designed to end the conflict and establish a framework for a comprehensive peace deal. Under the memorandum, Iran agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons, while the United States pledged to pursue sanctions relief and support economic development efforts as negotiations continue.