Inside Trump’s frantic race to sign a deal with Iran

Tehran maintained one demand: the memorandum of understanding could not be signed on Trump’s 80th birthday

US President Donald Trump was about to sit down on Wednesday when he surprised both his host, French President Emmanuel Macron, and some of his own aides with a demand: he wanted to sign his deal with Iran right then and there.

Trump’s top diplomat had received news, on his way to the palace, that the document was finalized. But there was already a signing ceremony scheduled for two days later, at an ultra-exclusive mountain retreat overlooking Lake Lucerne. The , the main American negotiator of the agreement, was supposed to go to Switzerland to sign the memorandum of understanding and begin the next round of technical negotiations with Iran.

Trump, however, insisted that the agreement take effect immediately and insisted on signing it that night. Macron informed Americans he could ensure this quickly, according to officials familiar with the events.

While the two presidents strolled through the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, inspecting the frescoed ceilings that glorify the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accompanied the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, looking for a printer to print the memorandum. If anyone had any concerns about it being the site of peace treaties — especially the one that ended World War I but gave rise to another — no one expressed it.

As it turned out, Friday’s event in Lucerne never took place. Vance postponed his trip after Iran withdrew from the meeting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The parties had agreed to a renewed ceasefire on Friday morning. But the Iran deal, just days after Trump signed it, appeared more fragile than ever.

Trump and Vance have every reason to begin the next phase of the agreement, which aims to consolidate Iran’s commitments to reducing its nuclear program. Both have been targets of severe criticism, who see the agreement as a capitulation that offers concessions to Tehran, getting little in return.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, for example, said Thursday that a $300 billion reconstruction fund included in the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal payments “look like a pittance.”

Trump adopted a defensive stance, insisting that it was US military supremacy that brought Iran to the negotiating table in the first instance. “We didn’t come together out of desperation, it was Iran. They are FINISHED!” Trump wrote on social media on Friday. “We’re going to do the 60 days. They don’t get any money, not even ten cents!”

Still, after months of war, the 14-point memorandum of understanding was clearly a relief to a president who had long yearned for an end to the conflict. His advisers had warned that global oil stocks were dwindling. Republican anxiety about the upcoming midterm elections was at an all-time high.

Trump himself acknowledged this week that it was economic concerns that led him to sign the agreement, telling journalists that he feared being compared to Herbert Hoover, the American president who presided over a stock market crash that led to the Great Depression.

“I didn’t want to see an economic catastrophe,” Trump said on Wednesday at the Hôtel Royal in Évian-les-Bains as he concluded the G7 summit.

A few hours later, shortly after 11pm local time, Trump was in Versailles’ Lower Gallery writing with a fountain pen at a long banquet table, with the clinking of plates and glasses in the background.

“It wasn’t easy, I can tell you,” he told his dinner companions, who included Wall Street titans and the president of France’s largest luxury conglomerate. Trump held up the memo to show them his signature.

“Bravo,” said Macron. Someone took a photo of the document to send to Iran.

A chaotic launch

The impromptu signing was the culmination of a frantic race to finalize the deal, filled with countless twists and turns and near-collapses. At times, the process took on a chaotic character, often fueled by Trump himself. For weeks, the American president oscillated between signaling that an agreement was close and threatening to resume active hostilities if Iran did not submit to his red lines.

Even after the memorandum of understanding was signed, the text itself was kept secret from the public for days, in part because Pakistani mediators told U.S. officials that the Iranians wanted to wait for their own domestic goals, according to Vance.

Finally released — which only happened through a senior American official who read it aloud to journalists — officials described “gentlemen’s agreements” not contained in the text itself, but which reflected unofficial understandings that, according to these sources, gave them confidence in the agreement.

Vance, who took the lead on the negotiations, told reporters on Thursday that some of these side agreements are documented, before adding: “The memorandum of understanding, the gentlemen’s agreements, the final agreement — the words don’t matter, ladies and gentlemen. What matters is the verification.”

American negotiators released the memorandum of understanding without waiting for Iran’s top leadership to approve the more detailed proposals, in part because they did not want to delay the next phase of negotiations, according to a source familiar with what Trump administration officials told top congressional lawmakers. More time would be needed to secure Iran’s formal approval of these.

But even the signing of the 14-point agreement at Versailles caused a moment of confusion, as US officials had claimed that Trump had already signed the document digitally earlier in the week.

It turns out that Trump only witnessed the previous signing. On Wednesday, he wanted to ensure that a hard copy was signed by himself and Iran’s president to ensure the agreement came into force.

“It’s signed,” Trump announced as he left the palace shortly after 1 a.m. local time. “I signed it in Versailles.”

Trump’s desperation to get out of the war

White House aides predicted the conflict would be well over before a series of celebratory summer events: the start of the World Cup, a UFC fight on the South Gardens of the White House on Trump’s birthday, June 14, and the nation’s 250th birthday.

Instead, the war became the simmering backdrop to it all. A drag on the global economy and Trump’s own popularity, his decision to launch attacks in February came to haunt his presidency even as he tried to move forward.

In the West Wing, many senior officials had come. Members of Trump’s political team argued for a way out to protect vulnerable Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections and the president’s political legacy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared concerns about the economic impact of the war. Energy Secretary Chris Wright was fearful of the effects on the global energy industry, officials familiar with the matter said.

“There was broad recognition that if this continued it would get even worse,” said a source familiar with the negotiations.

During an internal White House meeting in early June, Trump and his aides decided to push for a general agreement with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and outline a broad framework for dismantling Iran’s nuclear program.

None of the president’s advisers were ultimately opposed to moving forward with that plan, an official involved in the negotiations said, with the group deciding to reassess the situation over a further 60-day period for technical talks after the preliminary agreement to end the war has been reached.

In the weeks that followed, Trump’s national security team met nearly every day to discuss the developing deal. Many were concerned that Tehran would not fulfill its side of the agreement, said government officials directly involved in the negotiations.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were among the “most pessimistic” about whether the Iranians would honor their commitments to make substantial concessions on their nuclear program even if they agreed to negotiate on the issue, one of the officials said. But at various points, nearly every senior official — including Rubio, Vance and Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — raised serious reservations, the officials said.

Still, they finally reached a consensus driven by Trump himself: “We want to resolve this quickly,” a government official directly involved in the negotiations told CNN.

An arduous path, complicated by tensions with Israel

Still, it quickly became clear that Trump and his team’s rush to end the war would face obstacles. Negotiating with the Iranians has been a slow and painful process, involving long delays in getting a response from the country’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who, according to American officials, is using couriers to keep his location hidden.

U.S. officials were awaiting a response to their latest proposal when, on June 8, a U.S. Apache helicopter collided with an Iranian drone, leading to a dramatic water rescue of American pilots and triggering a new round of retaliatory strikes.

Over the course of several days, Trump was furious, believing that both Tehran and the media were not taking his response to the incident seriously enough. He fumed at the White House as he ordered daily bombings.

At the same time, a delegation of Qatari officials was in Tehran trying to obtain a counterproposal from the Iranians that Trump could approve. As Trump threatened another night of attacks, news came from the Qataris that some of the divergences between the two sides’ negotiating positions had narrowed.

Trump called off the strikes and went into his birthday weekend believing a deal was closer than ever.

It turns out that another obstacle was about to arise. A deadly Israeli attack on a Beirut suburb on Sunday — on Trump’s 80th birthday — triggered another rush to salvage a deal that Trump believed was nearly complete. Israel responded to Hezbollah attacks, but Trump and his advisers interpreted the action as an attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sabotage the agreement.

In a phone call filled with expletives, Trump harshly rebuked Netanyahu. Meanwhile, his advisers worked to prevent Iranian retaliation, which appeared imminent. In Tehran, Qatari negotiators held long talks to try to salvage the deal, frequently reporting to Witkoff, Kushner and other U.S. officials on their progress.

After 17 hours of discussions, the Iranians suspended the launch of ballistic missiles against Israel. Demands for changes to the text of the agreement were rejected by the Qataris, who warned that Trump’s patience was running out.

Tehran, however, maintained one demand: Iran refused to announce the agreement on Trump’s birthday.

Fearing further delays, the mediators came up with a creative solution. The deal would be announced just after midnight in Tehran, seven and a half hours before Washington, where Trump was preparing for a fight on the South Lawn of the White House in celebration of his birthday.

CNN’s Alayna Treene, Katie Bo Lillis, Zachary Cohen and Kristen Holmes contributed to this story.