--- title: Barack Obama Criticizes Trump's Iran Nuclear Deal Withdrawl description: Barack Obama immediately criticized Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. would withdraw from the Iranian Nuclear deal as irresponsible canonical: https://time.com/5270065/obama-iran-deal-trump/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-08T20:13:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:13:01.048Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'So Misguided.' Barack Obama Weighs In On Trump's Decision to Pull U.S. From Iran Nuclear Deal og:description: "The reality is clear. The JCPOA is working" og:url: https://time.com/5270065/obama-iran-deal-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4269263b4ffb79d9/6988631a0b72e367196e5c41/a5e1941aaffd44f49e5db1d9f1931c62-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: Barack Obama, Nathan Fletcher, John Kerry, Michelle DeFord og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'So Misguided.' Barack Obama Weighs In On Trump's Decision to Pull U.S. From Iran Nuclear Deal twitter:description: "The reality is clear. The JCPOA is working" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4269263b4ffb79d9/6988631a0b72e367196e5c41/a5e1941aaffd44f49e5db1d9f1931c62-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'So Misguided.' Barack Obama Weighs In On Trump's Decision to Pull U.S. From Iran Nuclear Deal > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=32b2e567-e3cf-4c24-9cc8-06f6b0e8aa7f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 8, 2018 8:13 PM UTC  President Barack Obama, accompanied by Nathan Fletcher, John Kerry, and Michelle DeFord, meets with veterans and Gold Star Mothers to discuss the Iran Nuclear deal in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, on Sept. 10, 2015. President Barack Obama, accompanied by Nathan Fletcher, John Kerry, and Michelle DeFord, meets with veterans and Gold Star Mothers to discuss the Iran Nuclear deal in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, on Sept. 10, 2015. Andrew Harnik—AP  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 8, 2018 8:13 PM UTC Former President Barack Obama immediately criticized President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday that the [United States would withdraw from the Iranian Nuclear deal](http://time.com/5269746/donald-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-macron/) – one of Obama’s signature foreign policy achievements – as misguided and irresponsible. “In a democracy, there will always be changes in policies and priorities from one Administration to the next. But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding America’s credibility, and puts us at odds with the world’s major powers,” Obama in a rare and lengthy statement Tuesday, a little over an hour after President Trump announced his decision. Obama said that, contrary to Trump’s assertion that the agreement had emboldened Iran, evidence shows Iran has weakened the country’s nuclear program and that Iran has complied with the stipulations. Leaving the program, Obama said, would heighten these risk factors, especially as [President Trump prepares](http://time.com/5246128/donald-trump-north-korea-summit-fruitful/) for an upcoming summit to discuss [denuclearization with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un](http://time.com/5269343/kim-jong-un-chinese-president/), and isolate America on the world stage. Trump announced on Tuesday that he would withdraw the U.S. from the deal, which he called “defective to its core” and reinstate the sanctions against Iran that had been lifted as part of the agreement. Obama rarely weighs in on the policy decisions of the Trump administration, but he has done so occasionally, primarily when it is designed to roll back his signature policies, like the [Affordable Care Act](http://time.com/4949837/obamacare-repeal-barack-obama-graham-cassidy/) or the [Paris Climate agreements](http://time.com/4802148/paris-agreement-barack-obama-donald-trump/). Read Obama’s full statement on Trump’s Iran decision below. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5270065/obama-iran-deal-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5270065/obama-iran-deal-trump/"},"headline":"'So Misguided.' Barack Obama Weighs In On Trump's Decision to Pull U.S. From Iran Nuclear Deal","datePublished":"2018-05-08T20:13:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:13:01.048Z","description":"\"The reality is clear. 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