Stephen Colbert has poked a major hole in President Trump’s claim that he’s achieved “complete and total victory” against Iran.
Trump announced Tuesday evening that he was pulling back on his earlier threat to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization” if it did not “fully open” the important trade route that is the Strait of Hormuz.
Critics have noted, however, that Trump did not receive the total surrender he’d demanded. Among Iran’s list of conditions to end the war, the country’s leaders reportedly proposed that they take control of the Strait of Hormuz, and impose a $2 million fee on ships passing through it.
Despite all the uncertainty around Iran’s negotiations with the U.S. and Israel, Trump told an AFP reporter on Tuesday that he had achieved “total and complete victory. 100 percent. No question about it.”
Colbert responded to the quote in his monologue Wednesday, telling Trump that he did in fact have a “couple questions” about his victory claims.
“Iran is also claiming victory against the United States and Israel,” Colbert pointed out. “Because keep in mind, Trump said, ‘There will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender,’ and that’s exactly what he got… with just 10 conditions.”
Colbert covered some of the 10 conditions released by the Iranian state media: “They include Iran’s continued control of the Strait of Hormuz, that the U.S. remove all primary and secondary sanctions against Iran and apparently accept that Iran can enrich uranium for its nuclear program.”
Colbert argued that these conditions were exactly what Iran wanted before the war even began.
“So it’s a real win-win,” Colbert joked, “in that Iran won twice.”
He then added, “It’s possible that we got nothing out of this war.”
Trump attacked CNN on Tuesday night for its skeptical coverage of Trump’s ceasefire announcement with Iran, accusing the network of putting out “knowingly false and dangerous” statements.
Late on Wednesday night, Trump made a new series of threats against Iran on his Truth Social account. He declared that the U.S. will maintain its military presence in the Middle East until a “real agreement” with Iran is reached.
If Iran did not “fully comply” with the agreement, Trump promised that “the Shootin’” will start, “bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.”
