by Sharon Rondeau
(May 10, 2026) — At 1:52 PM EDT Sunday, President Donald Trump issued a lengthy Truth Social post perhaps signaling his patience with the rogue nation of Iran is wearing thin.
On February 28, the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes on Iranian military and political-leadership targets in “Operation Epic Fury” to stop the regime from using the nuclear weapons it reportedly has developed over many years and was about to use on Israel, according to the Trump administration.
After claiming to have decimated the country’s military, theocratic and political infrastructure, the U.S. has attempted to negotiate with Iran to agree to end its nuclear ambitions.
An uneasy U.S.-Iran ceasefire has been in effect since April 8.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported the military part of the initiative has concluded, while economic pressure, dubbed “Economic Fury,” will continue, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last Sunday.
Since April 13, the United States has blocked Iranian ships from navigating the Strait of Hormuz as well as those delivering goods to the beleaguered country. Although Iran remains publicly defiant, last Sunday Trump reported “positive” discussions between the countries’ negotiators which he said could “lead to something very positive for all.”
In Sunday’s post Trump blamed “Barack Hussein Obama” for providing Iran with $1.7 billion “in green cash” in August 2016 as Obama prepared to leave offce.
“Iran has been playing games with the United States, and the rest of the World, for 47 years (DELAY, DELAY, DELAY!), and then finally hit ‘pay dirt’ when Barack Hussein Obama became President,” Trump wrote. “He was not only good to them, he was great, actually going to their side, jettisoning Israel, and all other Allies, and giving Iran a major and very powerful new lease on life. Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and 1.7 Billion Dollars in green cash, flown into Tehran, was handed to them on a silver platter…”
According to CNN in January 2016:
As the Obama administration welcomed the implementation of a major nuclear deal with Iran on Saturday, it also prepared to close the book on another long-standing issue between the two countries: a decades old legal claim.
The U.S. State Department announced the government had agreed to pay Iran $1.7 billion to settle a case related to the sale of military equipment prior to the Iranian revolution, according to a statement issued on Sunday.
Iran had set up a $400 million trust fund for such purchases, which was frozen along with diplomatic relations in 1979. In settling the claim, which had been tied up at the Hague Tribunal since 1981, the U.S. is returning the money in the fund along with “a roughly $1.3 billion compromise on the interest,” the statement said.
At the time, some denied the payments represented a “ransom.”
On September 6, 2026, the AP reported:
The Obama administration acknowledged late Tuesday that its transfer of $1.7 billion to Iran earlier this year was made entirely in cash, using non-U.S. currency, as Republican critics of the transaction continued to denounce the payments.
Treasury Department spokeswoman Dawn Selak said in a statement the cash payments were necessary because of the “effectiveness of U.S. and international sanctions,” which isolated Iran from the international finance system.
The $1.7 billion was the settlement of a decades-old arbitration claim between the U.S. and Iran. An initial $400 million of euros, Swiss francs and other foreign currency was delivered on pallets Jan. 17, the same day Tehran agreed to release four American prisoners.
Trump went on to claim that after receiving the funds, Iran “had no idea what to do with it.”
“They had never seen money like this, and never will again. It was taken off the plane in suitcases and satchels, and the Iranians couldn’t believe their luck,” Trump wrote. “…They finally found the greatest SUCKER of them all, in the form of a weak and stupid American President. He was a disaster as our “Leader,” but not as bad as Sleepy Joe Biden!”
Every Bank in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland was emptied out — It was so much money that when it arrived, the Iranian Thugs had no idea what to do with it. They had never seen money like this, and never will again. It was taken off the plane in suitcases and satchels, and the Iranians couldn’t believe their luck. They finally found the greatest SUCKER of them all, in the form of a weak and stupid American President. He was a disaster as our “Leader,” but not as bad as Sleepy Joe Biden! For 47 years the Iranians have been “tapping” us along, keeping us waiting, killing our people with their roadside bombs, destroying protests, and recently wiping out 42,000 innocent, unarmed protestors, and laughing at our now GREAT AGAIN Country. They will be laughing no longer! President DONALD J. TRUMP
According to current Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday, continued talks with the U.S. do not signal acquiescence.
Last Monday Trump launched “Project Freedom” to safely guide ships from nations uninvolved in the Iranian conflict through the Strait of Hormuz; on Tuesday he announced the initiative was suspended.
Beginning that day throughout the week, Iran launched attacks on U.S. ships, with the U.S. military responding in kind.
On Sunday Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CBS’s “Face the Nation,” “We are actively clearing the strait today, but we did stop Project Freedom at Iran’s request. As you said, it’s their only card if we militarily reopen the strait, which is a challenge. It’s not a one or two day endeavor that’s- that’s an effort to do that. They said, wait a minute, wait a minute, let’s make a deal. Let’s make a deal, we’ll agree to reopen it. Let’s engage in the talks about the nuclear program, and let’s make a deal. So this pausing of that military effort to open the straits is to get a negotiated settlement with Iran. And if we can get a successful negotiated settlement with Iran, that’s great. That’s a good end to the conflict, if we can.”