'Boy, was I wrong': Embarrassed conservative admits CNN was right about Trump's deal
President Donald Trump departs the Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee
June 22, 2026
An embarrassed conservative columnist admitted that CNN had accurately reported on the details of President Donald Trump's war with the Iranian regime, even though the columnist refused to believe one aspect of it.
Becket Adams, a conservative columnist for The Hill and National Review Online, wrote in a new op-ed for The Hill on Monday that the president's cosplaying as "war chief" has been disastrous. He also slighted the so-called Memorandum of Understanding that Trump and the Iranians allegedly agreed to, which punts talks about the Iranians' nuclear program in exchange for allowing the global sponsor of terrorism to immediately resume selling oil.
Adams argued that the deal showed "there’s nothing left except to concede that the U.S. was done in by a few mines."
"Boy, was I wrong," he wrote.
Adams claimed he took issue with the way CNN reported on the war, saying he didn't believe the assertion in March that the Trump administration did not have a contingency plan for the Iranian regime closing the Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday, the Iranian military announced it was doing just that in response to continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"The cable network later updated its reporting to explain that 'Trump administration officials briefed lawmakers on long-standing military plans to address a major disruption to the Strait, according to one official, but that multiple sources familiar with the session said there was no indication there were any near-term solutions.' I criticized this framing as well, given that the clarification was way off from the first claim," Adams claimed.
"Again, I apologize. CNN’s sources were clearly correct. This iteration of the Trump presidency is exactly as inept as advertised," he added.