June 26, 2026

Good morning! Today is Friday, June 26th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. As Vice President Vance unveils the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding in Switzerland, James P. Pinkerton writes that the result is a muddle—the regime bloodied but not toppled—yet a half-century of reflexive hostility may finally be softening. Harrison Berger reports that congressional Democrats, bankrolled by much of the same donor base as Republican hawks, are working to sabotage the Iran deal, even as 93 percent of their own voters want the war ended. Senator Lindsey Graham is now trying to drive a wedge between Trump and Vance by branding the Vice President "the architect of the deal," though prediction markets suggest Vance's stock is only rising. and now for the details. We begin with the diplomatic aftermath of the Iran War. Speaking from Switzerland this week, Vice President J.D. Vance laid out the contours of the new U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, emphasizing mechanisms, technical teams, and deconfliction. Negotiators from Qatar and Pakistan are helping both sides build procedural guardrails, though Israel says it is not bound by the agreement, and the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas remain wild cards. On the financial front, the Dow is up some three thousand points since late February, and oil prices have eased from their wartime peaks. As James P. Pinkerton writes, the result is a muddle: the Iranian regime has been bloodied but not toppled, and yet a half-century of reflexive hostility may be softening. Pinkerton points to the assessment of TAC's Andrew Day, that Trump has effectively reframed the Islamic Republic as a legitimate actor in world affairs rather than a forever-enemy. Pinkerton notes that Vance was joined in Switzerland by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil. Senator Lindsey Graham, Pinkerton observes, is now trying to drive a wedge between Trump and Vance by branding the Vice President "the architect of the deal," a maneuver aimed perhaps at the 2028 nomination. So far, that strategy has not gained traction, and prediction markets show Vance's stock rising. While the President works to extract the country from a war most Americans want ended, opposition to the deal is coming from a perhaps unexpected quarter. Harrison Berger reports that congressional Democrats, funded by much of the same donor base as Republican hawks, are working to sabotage the agreement, even though a CBS News poll shows roughly 93 percent of Democratic voters favor an exit from the conflict. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has declared that Democrats will not help send 300 billion dollars to Iran, explicitly rejecting one of Tehran's redline conditions. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire called the deal worse than the JCPOA, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey labeled it an "abject surrender." Berger notes that the talking points used by Democratic leaders mirror those circulated by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, with ranking House members Gregory Meeks, Jim Himes, and Adam Smith pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Iran's missile program and its regional proxies. Berger writes that lawmakers who long ago abdicated their constitutional authority to declare war have now rediscovered Congress's role, not to declare war, but to derail any effort to end one. A handful of Democrats, including Representatives Joaquin Castro and Ro Khanna, have broken with the hawkish establishment. Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute told TAC that a Harris administration would likely have pursued the same Iran policy. Berger concludes that Israel may find its most reliable ally not in Republican hawks but in a Democratic establishment whose own voters oppose the war. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.