Trump Shares Rand Paul Endorsement of Iran Peace Deal

Trump amplifies Senator Rand Paul, who backs the president on ending the Iran war and blames interventionists for past failures.

First Published: July 13, 2026, 5:29 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump amplified a message of support for his Iran peace deal, sharing a post from Senator Rand Paul that endorsed the president and condemned his critics. Paul, the junior Republican senator from Kentucky and chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, tied the war’s end to Trump’s diplomacy. The endorsement signals rare unity between the president and one of Congress’s most vocal noninterventionists. It arrives as the deal draws fire from foreign-policy hawks.

Here is the full post on Truth Social: “Senator Rand Paul @SenRandPaul The same voices now attacking Trump’s Iran deal are the architects of every failed intervention of my lifetime. This war must end. I stand with President Trump on peace.” on June 18, 2026 at 1:06 PM ET.

This is the first message released by Trump today. On average, Trump produces roughly 17 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025.

Paul, born in Pittsburgh in 1963, has served in the Senate since 2011 and describes himself as a constitutional conservative aligned with the Tea Party movement (see wikipedia.org). He is set to become Kentucky’s senior senator when Mitch McConnell retires in 2027 (see wikipedia.org). A graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine, he practiced as an ophthalmologist in Bowling Green before winning office (see wikipedia.org). His libertarian views mirror those of his father, Ron Paul, a three-time presidential candidate and 12-term U.S. representative from Texas.

The stakes cut across party lines. Trump gains cover from a senator who has long resisted foreign wars, blunting criticism that the deal abandons U.S. interests. Hawks who backed prior interventions lose a familiar ally in Paul, who framed them as the “architects of every failed intervention.” The alignment strengthens Trump’s hand as he sells the agreement to a divided Congress.

For the average American reader, an end to the war carries direct consequences. Ceasefires in the Middle East can ease pressure on oil markets and gasoline prices at the pump. A durable peace would also reduce the risk of U.S. troop deployments abroad.

Has this happened before? This has happened before. Paul has repeatedly broken with his own party’s hawks, recording opposition to military aid for Ukraine in May 2022 and pressing the Read the Bills Act and the Stop Arming Terrorists Act during his tenure (see wikipedia.org). His stance against interventions has defined much of his career.

The next decision on the Iran deal rests with Congress, which would weigh any formal agreement. A date for a vote or ratification has not been announced.

Divisions over Middle East policy have split Washington before, as happened when past presidents pursued diplomacy over force. The Iran nuclear question has drawn congressional fights across administrations, and the 2015 accord survived repeated attempts to unwind it before its later collapse. Presidents who leaned on Senate allies to defend such deals often found those coalitions fragile once public sentiment shifted. Trump now tests whether Paul’s endorsement can hold where earlier bargains frayed.

In the last 30 days, 80 of 515 Trump posts focused on foreign policy.