Fire in the Barrel: Trump, China, Iran, and the Oil Deal that Wasn’t
I had to reread it. I genuinely thought it was a parody account or some sort of oil-themed satire.
Here it is, word for word—posted by the former and once-again President of the United States:
“China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also. It was my Great Honor to make this happen!”
Now pause. Read that again. Let it wash over you like crude dumped into a freshwater stream.
“It was my Great Honor to make this happen.”
I’m sorry—what, exactly, did he think he made happen?
Because as far as I can tell, Trump is taking credit for lifting sanctions on China’s purchase of Iranian oil, which—unless we’ve slipped into another dimension—would be an absolute reversal of everything his own administration claimed to be doing while in office.
And if he didn’t actually do that, then… what the hell is he talking about?
Let’s Back This Up: A Primer for the Sane
In 2018, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal (the JCPOA) and reimposed crushing sanctions. One of the primary targets? Iran’s oil exports.
The idea was simple in theory and messy in practice:
• Cut off Iran’s main revenue source.
• Pressure the regime into submission.
• Prevent other nations—especially China—from buying Iranian crude.
To enforce this, the U.S. blacklisted tankers, sanctioned shippers, and threatened secondary sanctions against Chinese companies doing business with Iran.
And did it work?
Well… kind of. On paper.
But in the real world? China never really stopped buying. The oil just got sneakier. It was rebranded—sometimes labeled as Malaysian, sometimes as “other origin”—and shipped to “teapot” refineries in Shandong. The flow didn’t stop. It just took the long way around.
So while Trump was shouting about “maximum pressure,” China was pouring maximum crude into its refineries via the global backdoor.
Fast Forward to 2025: Nothing Changed—Except the Memory Hole
Now, here in June 2025, Trump appears to be claiming credit for the exact thing his administration tried (and failed) to stop:
“China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran.”
And then the kicker:
“It was my Great Honor to make this happen!”
Which begs the question—what does he think just happened?
Because either:
1. He believes the sanctions were lifted because of him, which is false, or
2. He doesn’t understand the policy implications of his own presidency, or
3. He thinks Americans have no idea how any of this works, and he’s not entirely wrong about that.
I don’t say that to be cruel. I say it because we are watching a man construct an entirely alternate legacy in real time, and much of the country is either too exhausted or too complicit to correct the record.
What He Might Be Trying to Say (Benefit of the Doubt… Briefly)
There’s a remote possibility—remote, like satellite-drifting-out-of-orbit remote—that Trump meant something like this:
“Despite sanctions, China’s still buying Iranian oil, and that’s fine, as long as they buy some from us too.”
Which would still be wild. But at least comprehensible.
But that’s not what he said. He framed it like a triumphant diplomatic win—as if he personally arranged a favorable energy deal between China, Iran, and the U.S.
That’s not only factually incoherent—it’s geopolitically absurd.
Meanwhile, Back in the Real World…
Let’s clarify:
• China is still importing Iranian oil—about 1.4 million barrels a day, give or take.
• Those sales violate the spirit (and sometimes the letter) of U.S. sanctions.
• There has been no formal policy shift or new “deal” brokered by Trump.
• Trump taking credit for it makes about as much sense as me taking credit for gravity.
The only way this claim has legs is if Trump intends to normalize and greenlight Chinese purchases from Iran moving forward. Which would be a monumental policy shift… and one he’s framing like a crowning achievement.
I can’t help but shake my head. Not because I’m surprised—but because this is how confusion becomes legacy.
Say it with enough bluster, and eventually, someone carves it into a commemorative plate.
What’s Actually at Stake
Oil policy isn’t just about barrels and boats. It’s about leverage. About pressure. About keeping one foot on the global chessboard and the other in the Strait of Hormuz.
If we let Iran freely export oil to China, we:
• Undercut our own sanctions leverage.
• Funnel billions to a regime that funds proxy wars and authoritarian repression.
• Hand China a quiet victory on energy security.
So why would a former U.S. president (and the current one, mind you) publicly celebrate it?
Unless… he’s:
• Deeply confused, or
• Performing a victory lap for something he used to oppose, or
• Cashing in on a geopolitical contradiction and hoping no one notices.
Pick your poison. They all stink.
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Final Thought
This isn’t about oil.
It’s about how history gets rewritten in real time, and how a man with a phone and a platform can take a complete policy failure and dress it up like a diplomatic masterstroke—and millions will nod along, half-informed, wholly convinced.
Me?
I’m just sitting here with a furrowed brow and an empty coffee cup, wondering how we got to the point where saying “I helped China buy oil from Iran” is a flex.
It’s not a deal.
It’s not diplomacy.
It’s a delusion.
And we’re all stuck living downstream from it.