'America First': Wall Street investor slams Trump's plan for $300 billion Iran reconstruction fund

Spencer Hakimian, the founder of prominent hedge fund Tolou Capital Management, took aim at President Donald Trump's newly announced peace deal with Iran, zeroing in on a clause that serves $300 billion to Iran for a reconstruction fund. "We're about to spend $300,000,000,000 rebuilding Iran after spending $80,000,000,000 destroying it, while telling Americans on Medicaid to take a hike. America First," he wrote on X.

The provision is among the most contentious elements of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed on Wednesday, stipulating that the U.S. and its regional partners will create a fund for Iran's economic development, with the implementation mechanism to be finalised within a 60-day negotiating window. The provision has drawn sharp criticism at home, with notably little support even within conservative circles, fuelling uncomfortable questions about whether the deal amounts to a strategic concession to Iran.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a vocal supporter of the war and the Trump administration, nonetheless drew a firm line on the reconstruction fund. "I don't want to see a lunatic religious fanatic who chants 'death to America', whether it comes from us or from regional partners, I don't care where it comes from—receive billions of dollars. It has proven to be a mistake historically," he said on his podcast. Former GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was more blunt, calling the provision "a bunch of bulls**t for a war nobody wanted."

Trump pushed back on his Truth Social platform, insisting there was no $300 billion payment to Iran by the US. "That's Fake News! All there is for the U.S. is Success, Lower Oil Prices, and Victory. Check out the Stock Market. Dumocrat propaganda at play!!!" he wrote. Vice President J.D. Vance echoed that position, clarifying that Tehran would only have access to a fund "funded by the Gulf Coast Coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation", a reference widely understood to mean the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Meanwhile, the deal's durability remains uncertain after Israel continued to shell Lebanon despite the agreement calling for a halt to all military operations in the region. Trump's ability to rein in Israel has also come into question as his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visibly frayed in recent days. Trump himself dismissed Netanyahu as a "very small partner" in the peace process, while Vance warned that Israel was fast losing allies.