‘You Know He’s a…’: Trump Spirals Into Wild Obama Rant, Nearly Unleashes Nasty Insult But Abruptly Stops Himself Cold and Has Everyone Filling In the Blanks
President Donald Trump’s complaints about Iran negotiations took an unexpected detour Monday when his reference to an “11-hour meeting” left viewers puzzled over whether he had mistaken the common phrase “11th hour” for the actual length of the talks.
Minutes later, he veered into a tirade against former President Barack Obama before abruptly stopping himself just as he seemed poised to deliver an especially nasty insult.
The pair of awkward moments quickly ricocheted across social media, where critics mocked what they viewed as Trump’s confusion over a common expression and speculated about the insult he appeared to catch himself from saying.
Trump Complains to Fox News
The unusual exchange unfolded during a series of interviews in which Trump sought to tout what he described as a breakthrough framework with Iran while contrasting it with Obama’s 2015 nuclear agreement.
Instead, his remarks drew attention for reasons that had little to do with diplomacy, prompting fresh scrutiny of both his rhetoric and his repeated attacks on Obama as tensions with Tehran have escalated to military force over the past week.
Speaking with Fox News, Trump said U.S. negotiators believed they had secured a long-term peace agreement with Iran after marathon talks, only for Iranian officials to seek changes afterward.
“So, something that nobody knows, yesterday they had an 11-hour meeting, everything’s 11 hours with these guys, you know you can’t settle a one sentence in one hour and one minute. It should be one minute,” Trump complained. “And everything was agreed to yesterday, and they leave the room and they call back, and they say we had to make a couple of changes. I said changes? You gonna make changes, we’re not gonna make changes.
“We are gonna keep the, uh, Strait, and we’ll probably run it, it will become guardian of the Strait, maybe we’ll call it guardian angel of the Strait. And we should be reimbursed for that. When we do that, we’re gonna be reimbursed because the other nations are very wealthy, they’re on our side, and we can’t be expected to do that for nothing.”
Trump Self-Censors
The president’s repeated emphasis on an “11 hour meeting” prompted some critics to suggest he had mistaken the phrase for “11th hour”—commonly used to describe a last-minute development.
One social media user wrote: “Eleven hour meeting!! My god, we couldn’t have elected a bigger idiot if we actually tried!! Fourth graders might not know what ‘11th hour’ means, but the man that controls our future, the nuclear codes, our very survival has no vlue what ‘11th hour’ means! Not to even mention the lies like ‘they got nothing from me’ doozy!”
In a separate appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Trump broadened his criticism to previous administrations, arguing that successive presidents had failed to confront Iran.
“Look for 47 years, they’ve been tapping people along — every president got tapped along, didn’t do anything,” Trump said. “And they became more and more powerful. This should have been done 47 years ago; it shouldn’t have been allowed to start. But Clinton let them go, and Bush let them go. Everybody let them go. And Obama was the worst of all, because Obama actually went to their side.”
Trump then appeared to stop himself before uttering what many viewers believed would be an even harsher personal attack.
“You know he’s a… well… let’s not say,” Trump said. “Let’s not say, let’s leave that for another time. He was terrible.”
Social Media Erupts
Trump’s comments immediately sparked a wave of criticism online.
Political commentator Adam Mockler suggested Trump might have been wanting to use a racial slur against Obama but then backed off, knowing he couldn’t take it that far — a line not to cross even for him.
Others accused Trump of trying to distract from criticism surrounding the Iran negotiations.
“Trump is so desperate to change the subject on Iran that he’s bringing back his racist birther conspiracy from over a decade ago.”
Another person wrote: “His obsession with and jealousy of Obama is bordering on lunatic craziness and frankly, I’m sick of his immaturity and pettiness.”
A separate post said: “Dumps racist, and can’t stand the fact, a black man, is better than him, at being a decent human being and president.”
Another reaction read: “He’s a muslim Donnie? President Obama has been in Church far more often than you. Blatant racism.”
Trump Constant Criticism of Obama’s Deal
Trump previously criticized Obama’s handling of Iran, primarily over the 2016 transfer of $1.7 billion that settled a decades-old legal dispute between the United States and Iran.
The Obama administration said at the time that the $1.7 billion payment settled a decades-old arbitration claim stemming from Iranian funds held since the 1970s. Sanctions had largely cut Iran off from the international financial system, so officials said they had to deliver the money in non-U.S. currency. The administration also acknowledged it withheld the payment as leverage until Iran released four American prisoners.
Trump’s renewed criticism comes as his own administration is pursuing an equally controversial arrangement with Tehran. Unlike Obama’s 160-page Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Trump’s recently signed memorandum of understanding is a short framework that begins a 60-day negotiation process.
It outlines potential sanctions relief, possible access to billions in frozen assets and a proposed $300 billion economic development fund backed by outside investors, while leaving many major issues unresolved. Some critics have argued the framework gave Iran more upfront concessions than Obama’s agreement did.
That deal is all but finished in the wake of military escalations over the past week that have seen the U.S, strike multiple targets in Iran in response to the Islamic Republic interdicting shipping in the so-called Oman lane of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranians have retaliated by striking American military targets in multiple Gulf states as well as Jordan. Trump, in his turn, has renewed the U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping and declared the United States will keep the Strait open, even floating the idea on July 13 of America charging a 20 percent toll on Gulf Coast states’ ships before reversing course the next day.