WASHINGTON, May 23, 2026 — White House Communications Director Steven Cheung unleashed a profanity-laced attack on former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Saturday after the former Trump cabinet official publicly blasted an emerging Iran peace framework as “not remotely America First” — telling Pompeo to “shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals.”
“Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f*** he’s talking about,” Cheung wrote on X. “He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals. He’s not read into anything that’s happening, so how would he know.”
What Pompeo Said
The exchange was triggered by a post from Pompeo on X criticizing the contours of a deal President Donald Trump announced Saturday as “largely negotiated” with Iran. Trump wrote on Truth Social that “final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed” and that “the Strait of Hormuz will be opened” — a commitment that would allow approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil supply to flow freely through the waterway after Iran closed it during the war.
Pompeo — who served as Trump’s CIA Director and Secretary of State during the first term — compared the emerging framework to agreements negotiated by Obama-era officials widely despised by the MAGA base. “The deal being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook: Pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world,” Pompeo wrote on X. “Not remotely America First. It’s straightforward: Open the damned strait. Deny Iran access to money. Take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in the region. Overdue. Let’s go.”
Wendy Sherman served as Deputy Secretary of State and chief negotiator for the Obama-era nuclear deal. Robert Malley was the lead U.S. negotiator on that agreement. Ben Rhodes was Obama’s Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications. All three have been frequent targets of Republican criticism over the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which Trump withdrew during his first term.
The Deal on the Table
Trump announced the framework Saturday following calls with Muslim leaders from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Bahrain, as well as a separate call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The high-level U.S. negotiating team included Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, according to a White House official.
Trump described the tentative framework as a “Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE.” According to CNN, the deal is expected to unfold in two phases — first, Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and providing assurances it will not pursue nuclear weapons, followed by at least 30 days of continued negotiations on remaining sticking points including Tehran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium.
Iran pushed back on Trump’s characterization. Fars News, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Trump’s claims about the strait reopening were “not true” and “inconsistent with reality,” saying any agreement would not return the waterway to its pre-war free-passage status. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the Strait of Hormuz was a matter for Tehran and Oman to decide — not the United States.
Conservative Backlash
Pompeo was not alone among conservatives expressing alarm. Multiple Republican hawks took to social media Saturday to warn that the emerging deal failed to address Iran’s nuclear program and amounted to rewarding Tehran for its aggression. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who earlier this year introduced legislation to impose automatic sanctions on China if it invades Taiwan, separately warned that any deal leaving Iran’s nuclear infrastructure intact would be a historic mistake.
The conservative criticism reflects a tension inside the Republican coalition between hawks who want maximum pressure on Iran and the Trump administration’s push to end a war that has driven up U.S. gas prices and strained the economy heading into the Memorial Day weekend. NPR reported that at least 33 ships including oil tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz with Iran’s permission within 24 hours of Trump’s announcement.
Pompeo and Trump’s Fractured Relationship
Cheung’s attack on Pompeo carried additional weight given the history between the two men. Pompeo served loyally as Trump’s CIA Director from 2017 to 2018 and as Secretary of State from 2018 to 2021, but the relationship soured after Pompeo considered a presidential run of his own. Trump stripped Pompeo of his government security detail upon returning to office in January 2025 — a decision that drew criticism given that Iran had publicly threatened Pompeo’s life in retaliation for the 2020 killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, which Pompeo helped orchestrate.
Pompeo has since positioned himself as a critic of certain Trump administration decisions while remaining broadly supportive of the MAGA movement — a posture that has put him on a collision course with the White House on foreign policy.
Cheung’s post made clear the administration views that posture as illegitimate. “He’s not read into anything that’s happening,” Cheung wrote. “So how would he know.”