John Oliver accused the president of “exploiting” the war with Iran for personal reasons, including missing his own son’s wedding.
The Last Week Tonight host announced that Iran and the U.S. agreed to come to an agreement in time for Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, which he marked with a UFC fight on the White House lawn. Before the celebrations commenced, Trump declared that the two countries had reached an agreement on Saturday afternoon, writing on Truth Social, “The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL.”
But according to reports, the timing was no coincidence, and Iran, in fact, criticized the president’s “unusual insistence” on signing the agreement on his birthday. Iran’s military force publicly censured the proposed timeline, reports CNN, with the group writing on Telegram, “Some observers believe his insistence may be driven by a desire to use the occasion symbolically and turn it into a personal publicity event.”
Oliver explained this bizarre insistence to his audience, saying, “An outlet associated with Iran’s military force denied that Iran would sign an agreement with the United States on Sunday, and suggested that Trump was only pushing it so hard because he wanted a deal to coincide with his birthday.”
“Which I will say would not be the first time that he exploited Iran for personal reasons,” continued the HBO host, “Given that he previously suggested that ongoing negotiations were the reason that he couldn’t attend Don Jr.’s wedding, saying, ‘It’s not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran.’”
“Which is just incredible,” Oliver scoffed.
“President Dad misses son’s wedding for a peace deal he didn’t get. It isn’t breaking Hemingway records for shortest sad story, but it might be the dumbest,” he quipped.
The president skipped Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding, citing “Iran” as the official reason. Other late-night hosts, like Seth Meyers, have pointed out that the president somehow made it to the NBA Finals in New York, despite missing his son’s wedding.
Oliver suggested that Trump’s deal with Iran came after a “chaotic week” of on-and-off threats: “Meanwhile, the Iran war may have potentially entered its end stage, with Trump claiming all week that a peace deal was imminent—something only slightly undercut by the fact that he previously said that at least 38 times.”
The U.S. and Iran are poised to sign the deal in Switzerland on Friday, according to reports.
