Mara Eliasson

Trump is 80.

Happy birthday, Mr. President.

And generational change and age are big issues in the midterms.

His critics say that Trump has been showing signs of decline, closing his eyes in White House meetings, although the White House denies that he has fallen asleep.

Well, it's not actually a deal yet, but Trump posted that he'd spent Saturday talking with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan, Bahrain, and Pakistan about, quote, a memorandum of understanding and that one aspect of these negotiations, according to Trump, would be to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's foreign ministry says the memorandum of understanding is aimed at ending the war, but that Iran is rejecting any discussions about its nuclear program, so no change there.

Trump later posted something that tamped down expectations.

He said he told U.S.

negotiators not to rush into a deal.

He also reiterated that Iran cannot develop a bomb, but he also posted, quote, nobody has seen it or knows what it is.

It isn't even fully negotiated.

There are Republicans who supported the strike on Iran who have been very skeptical about this deal memorandum.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X, if a deal is struck to end the Iranian conflict because it's believed that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be protected from Iranian terrorism—

then Iran will be perceived as being a dominant force.

He later urged Trump to stick to his guns and get a good deal.

Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on X that the deal was a disaster.

And in a previous post, he said Trump is being ill-advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it's written on.

So I think as we get more details about this, we might get more reaction like that.

It certainly would help them more than not having a deal, especially if the Strait of Hormuz opens and gas prices come down before November.

That would be helpful for Republican incumbents.