Batya Ungar-Sargon calls Iran deal ‘total capitulation’ by US, Trump

International Batya Ungar-Sargon calls Iran deal ‘total capitulation’ by US, Trump Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 06/18/26 11:18 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 06/18/26 11:18 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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NewsNation host Batya Ungar-Sargon on Wednesday slammed the preliminary peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, calling it a “total capitulation” to the Islamic regime.

Ungar-Sargon, a vocal supporter of the president and the host of “Batya,” called the deal “an utter disaster” in an appearance on “Katie Pavlich Tonight” on NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network. She had previously advocated for the war as a means to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

“It’s total capitulation. Everybody knows it. Every Republican defending this knows that if a Democrat had signed a document like this, they would be out there blasting them to kingdom come. President Trump had one job. And it was not to sign a deal that could credibly be said to be the equivalent of the JCPOA,” Ungar-Sargon told Pavlich, referring to the Obama-era deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

The 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) reopens the Strait of Hormuz, lifts the U.S. naval blockade in the strait and gives the U.S. and Iran 60 days to finalize an outcome to Iran’s nuclear program.

Critics have particularly hit Trump on how the deal ultimately involves lifting sanctions on Iran and potentially giving it access to hundreds of billions of dollars in reconstruction funds.

Ungar-Sargon suggested that the 60-day time frame could allow the Iranian government to charge cargo vessels in the Strait of Hormuz via a toll “because we just showed them that they can bring the greatest superpower to ever exist on planet Earth to its knees with a few minds.”

“Every word the president said today was a complete reversal of his own positions two months ago, three months ago, four months ago,” she added. “He made Secretary of State Marco Rubio look like a fool because he made the argument you just made, Katie, that the ballistic missile program was a protective shield around the nuclear program.”

Ungar-Sargon wrote Tuesday on Substack, before the MOU was revealed, that she was “desperate” for the Iran war to reach an end, noting the economic cost of the war impacting the cost of living and inflation in the U.S.

“But the juice has to be worth the squeeze — in no small part because of how much working-class Americans have already paid for it. … President Trump keeps saying the Iranians have promised not to build or buy nukes — but this is no great achievement; they always promise that. They certainly promised President Obama that — then cheated,” she wrote.

Trump on Wednesday defended Iran’s possession of ballistic missiles during a Group of Seven press conference. He said that other countries carry ballistic missiles and that it “doesn’t work that way” to tell Iran not to possess them and allow other nations to have them in their arsenal.

Iran hawks in the U.S. have also shredded this notion, along with the MOU. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro called the deal a “disaster,” while Erick Erickson, another commentator on the right, said the deal was an “American surrender.”