July 14, 2019

Trump Ditched Iran Nuclear Deal to Spite Obama, Says Former UK Ambassador

Sir Kim Darroch called it “diplomatic vandalism.”

Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Sir Kim Darroch isn’t a fan of President Donald Trump. That much was made clear recently when leaked diplomatic cables revealed that Darroch, who served as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States, called Trump “insecure” and “incompetent.” Those revelations led to Darroch’s forced resignation last week.

But another report reveals something else: According to Darroch, Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal just to spite his predecessor, Barack Obama. The Daily Mail first reported the news of the diplomatic cables in which Darroch called Trump’s move “diplomatic vandalism.” The cables exposed a fractured relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, a longtime ally.

As Mother Jones DC Bureau Chief David Corn reported at the time that it was signed in 2015, the Iranian nuclear deal was a hard-fought and critical step in nuclear nonproliferation. Since ending the deal, Trump has come frighteningly close to going to war with Iran. In June, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down an American drone, which many observers saw as an intentional provocation. Trump responded with new sanctions.

It would be striking if much of this recent discord could be directly traced back to Trump simply wanting to show up Obama. It is perhaps the most concrete example yet that the president’s delicate ego could bring the United States closer to another war.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate