June 24, 2026
On Wednesday, June 17 2026, Trump signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran in Versailles. That palace has seen a lot of defeats.
Asked about the MoU he called it an "unconditional surrender":
Caputo also asked Trump about his original promise that the war would end with an "unconditional surrender" from Tehran, pointing to the memorandum of understanding he signed on Wednesday.
"Well, it really probably is unconditional surrender," Trump told the outlet.
Trump says there are 'no limits' to his power - The Hill
But Trump leaves this open: Surrender by whom?
His declared war aims and demands for Iran were regime change, no ballistic missiles and no nuclear program.
Now Trump himself is fearing regime change. He defends Iran's reliance on ballistic missiles and no longer minds it having nuclear stuff.
March 6 2026:
President Trump declared on Friday that he would settle for nothing short of "unconditional surrender" by Iran, the latest and broadest expansion of his goals for the conflict,...
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Six days into the Israeli and American bombing campaign, Iran has shown no interest, at least publicly, in surrendering.
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Mr. Trump declared on Saturday, in the opening hours of the U.S. attack, that Iran's people should rise up and overthrow their government.
But in the following days, both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pivoted away from the emphasis on regime change, saying that the United States was simply focused on assuring that Iran's nuclear program was permanently destroyed, and that it no longer had the missile capability to attack Israel, its Arab neighbors, and perhaps someday America.
Trump Demands 'Unconditional Surrender' by Iran ( archived) - Mar 6 2026 - NY Times
June 18 2026:
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was motivated to finalize the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran to prevent "economic catastrophe" if the war was not resolved soon.
"So rather than possibly going into a depression, rather than having your favorite president be Herbert Hoover, he was always the one I didn't want to be," Trump said of the 31st president whose policies are often blamed for starting the Great Depression.
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Trump also said he was open to allowing Iran to maintain its stockpile of ballistic missiles, claiming it was "unfair" for Iran to not be able to have the weapons if their neighbors do.
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And despite his insistence that the memorandum states that Iran cannot develop or obtain a nuclear weapon - one of his chief concerns during negotiations, Trump also appeared softer during the press conference on Wednesday in his position on whether Iran could develop a nuclear program for civilian purposes in the future.
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"You know, it's also, it is a little hard though when you say that somebody wants-other people have it, other adjoining states have it and you're not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that. It's always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense," Trump added.
Trump didn't want 'Herbert Hoover' presidency with Iran; said it has to have 'some' missiles - Jun 18, 2026 - ABCnews
Professor Mearsheimer was quite explicit in his latest talk (vid) with Judge Napolitano: Trump must shut the war down, whatever it politically might cost, to save the economy and his presidency.
After he had launched the war he had to surrender, unconditionally, to prevent a global depression (which still may well happen). It may still take while, and maybe even another round of fighting, until that really sinks in.
Reprinted with permission from Moon of Alabama.