Jon Stewart mocks Trump’s Iran promises as ‘dealmaker’ image takes hit
WASHINGTON, DC: Comedian Jon Stewart mocked President Donald Trump over stalled Iran negotiations, arguing the president’s longtime image as a master negotiator is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.
Stewart pointed to months of Trump insisting a deal with Iran was close. The criticism landed harder after an Iranian state-affiliated outlet reportedly said Tehran would stop exchanging messages with the US through intermediaries and move to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Jon Stewart targets Trump’s Iran claims
While hosting 'The Daily Show', Stewart opened by joking, “Looks like we’re going to finally put an end to the US-Iran kerfuffle.”
He then played a montage of cable news clips and Trump comments dating back to March that repeatedly suggested an agreement with Iran was near.
“Now you could be forgiven for being skeptical. If you remember, I believe we’ve been here before,” Stewart told viewers.
The 63-year-old comedian said Americans “were under the mistaken notion” Trump was “some kind of dealmaker in chief,” a line that sharpened the show’s focus on the president’s stalled promises rather than the broader Middle East conflict itself.
Stewart also mocked Trump after the president blamed political opponents for complicating negotiations.
“What’s holding it up?” Stewart asked before pointing to Trump’s recent Truth Social post accusing “negatively chirping” Democrats and “unpatriotic Republicans” of making it “MUCH tougher” for him to strike a deal.
“You’re blaming this sh*t on us?” Stewart exclaimed.
“You can’t make peace unless everybody’s quiet? Is making peace like putting on or peeing? Is that what this is?” he added as the audience laughed.
Jon Stewart questions Trump’s negotiating image
Stewart argued the repeated promises of a breakthrough were now colliding with Trump’s own public messaging.
“Oh, the peace won’t come out unless everybody shuts up,” he quipped before adding, “Maybe the problem isn’t us, who didn’t want this f—ing war in the first place.”
He then turned directly to Trump’s public persona as a negotiator.
“Maybe the problem is a president who talks out of both sides of his mouth, lies as most of us breathe, and whose pronouncements cannot be trusted because they will inevitably be undercut by the very same person pronouncing them,” Stewart said.
President Donald Trump listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on February 26, 2025, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)The late-night host went further by arguing that Trump’s political instincts work against the kind of compromise needed in diplomacy.
“Donald Trump isn’t actually a master gap-a-close-inator,” Stewart said.
“Negotiation is about bringing parties of disparate interests into an agreement that understands each other’s positions and resolves those differences with compromises that advance shared goals,” he continued. “Whereas Donald Trump’s gift is in not doing that.”
Stewart closed the segment by accusing Trump of fueling the same divisions that make negotiations harder to achieve.
“Trump’s singular gift is in manufacturing the animus and division that actually makes negotiated settlements so difficult yet so necessary in this world,” Stewart said. “That’s his happy place.”
