Antony Blinken

71st Secretary of State

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

Wise words from my friend @RoKhanna

[Ro Khanna @RoKhanna]

It’s good we stopped fighting Iran. But Trump’s ceasefire deal is worse than the JCPOA. The facts. Fox News https://t.co/WIMf6hMjPE

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

Thoughts on the “Ceasefire” with Iran:

President Trump should share the ceasefire agreement with the American people.  They deserve to see it and draw their own conclusions about the results of the president’s war. Just as they should have been informed before he launched it.

From what’s been reported, it’s a bad deal to end a misguided war of President Trump’s choosing. The only thing worse would be to continue the war that has proven so costly in lives lost — including U.S. service members — and taxpayer dollars spent without making the American people safer or their lives better.

By President Trump’s own terms, the war is a failure.

The Iranian regime is intact and its military wing more empowered, while the Iranian people are more impoverished, repressed and desperate.

Iran apparently retains a significant supply of missiles and drones and the productive capacity to make more. It has renewed links to lethal proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere. The ceasefire agreement seems to be silent about these issues

The attempt to “re-obliterate” Iran’s nuclear program — which President Trump claimed to have wiped out last year — failed. Iran still has the highly enriched uranium it had produced before the war started, along with centrifuges to spin the uranium into weapons-grade material. Maybe that will be addressed in the negotiations that are supposed to start this week. But at what price in terms of sanctions relief and assets unfrozen? At best, we’ll get back to something that looks like the JCPOA — the nuclear deal negotiated by President Obama without going to war that put Iran’s nuclear program in a box. President Trump tore up the JCPOA in 2018 and then failed to replace it. There’s reason to doubt we will come away with anything as strong as the JCPOA — which took two years to negotiate in partnership with all the major powers — in 60 days, playing a far weaker hand. And by the way, if the president tries to claim credit for Iran renouncing nuclear weapons as part of any agreement, look no further than the very first paragraph of the JCPOA, which contains the same pledge.

The only “achievement” of the ceasefire is the likely re-opening the Strait of Hormuz — which was open before the war started. And we will apparently pay Iran to do so, in the form of waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil. Iran has now demonstrated the capacity to stop or slow the passage of oil, natural gas, fertilizer and other critical products upon which so much of the world depend. Going forward, it will almost certainly find ways to collect “fees” for safe passage that will help entrench the regime.

Don’t expect a return to normal any time soon, if at all. Crude oil prices will drop from the record highs they reached — but they’re unlikely to fall to pre-war levels. We will all pay for a sustained inflationary effect. It will take time to restart oil and gas production, repair infrastructure, refill dangerously depleted stockpiles, clear mines, and restore confidence. Just as it will take a lot of time to replenish our own supply of offensive and defensive missiles, to the detriment of our deterrent in other parts of the world.

Maybe the only positive development is the world’s renewed focus on renewable energy as a way to break the stranglehold of the Strait. But China will be the big winner as the world’s leader in wind, solar, EV’s and batteries — further expanding its influence — while the Trump administration is paying wind farms to shut down and gutting incentives to make us more competitive in EVs. (I just returned from Norway, where more than 90 percent of the new cars sold last year were full EV’s. Norway may be ahead of the curve, but we’re driving right off the road).

Meanwhile, the administration achieved a terrible trifecta of alienating our partners in Europe (insulted and threatened for two years, not consulted on the war and then lambasted for not helping bail us out), Asia (which bore the greatest impact of high energy prices and rising scarcity) and the Middle East (the primary target of Iranian retaliation), while diminishing our standing and credibility everywhere.

Most of all, President Trump’s war of choice has failed the ultimate foreign policy test: it has failed to make the American people better off. At a time when more and more American families are struggling to make ends meet, this war has made filling everything from the gas tank to the grocery cart to medical prescriptions harder and more expensive.

We should all be glad the war is over — for now. No doubt President Trump will claim credit for ending it. But that’s like an arsonist boasting about putting out a fire he started after half the house has been burnt down.

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

As a lifelong Knicks fan, only one night compares: Game 7, May 8, 1970. Watching with my dad as an injured Willis Reed limped out, out-jumped Wilt, and scored the first two buckets. Same spirit last night. Thinking of my dad, watching from the bleachers somewhere. LET'S GO KNICKS

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

The pace and scope of change is unlike anything we've experienced before, with new actors super empowered by information and technology. How should future U.S. administrations think about and act on this moment to advance America’s leadership in the world?

I spoke about that this week at @amprog Ideas Conference alongside @LindaT_G, @AndyKimNJ, and @jrpsaki.

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

(5/5) The critical question now is will we emerge from this war of choice in a stronger position than when President Trump started it? I share some thoughts on why the answer is no.

Full conversation: https://t.co/ZTaoBNsW8O

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

Thanks to the @EconClubNY and @DavidWestin for inviting me to talk about the economic and geopolitical stakes of President Trump's war with Iran. 🧵

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

(4/5) President Trump is looking for an off ramp. I hope he finds one. There's a deal to be made. But Iran has gained leverage, and they'll use it.

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

Congratulations to Gharun Lacy on being named an honoree in the 2026 Service to America Awards. In June 2023, Gharun and his team at State detected and dismantled Storm-0558, a Chinese-linked intrusion threatening 300M+ Microsoft cloud users, in just 10 days. It's a powerful reminder of what the Foreign Service does every day: protect Americans from threats most will never see.

https://t.co/0PYZlUN4mV

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

President Trump is constrained by markets and munitions to find an off ramp in the war with Iran. Thus far, our tactical successes have come at the cost of strategic failure. See below for my conversation with @FareedZakaria

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

(10/10) So no, I would not have done it. For the record.

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

(1/10) @realDonaldTrump cited me as supporting his attack on Iran and expressing regret we didn’t do it during the Biden Administration. Except I didn’t.

[Acyn @Acyn]

Trump: I've heard that today Blinken made a statement that he should have done it. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. Blinken is Biden’s guy I guess. Who the hell knows who he is. But he came out with the statement that they should have done it, they made a mistake

[Antony Blinken @ABlinken]

(9/10) Meanwhile, 13 American servicemembers have lost their lives and hundreds more have been wounded. The Iranian people are still under the fist of a highly repressive regime. Iran and Russia are getting an oil bonanza. America is more isolated than ever from our closest allies and partners. And billions more U.S. taxpayer dollars are being spent on another war in the Middle East (with an additional $200 billion requested from the Pentagon to fund this war). Not to mention the failure to make the case to the American people for why this was necessary, in their interest, or worth risking American lives for.