Transcript: Sen. Chris Van Hollen on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 24, 2026

The following is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on May 24, 2026. NANCY CORDES: We turn now to Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. Senator, thank you so much for being with me. SENATOR CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: It's good to be with you, Nancy. NANCY CORDES: So, I want to stress that all of this is still evolving. We're getting slightly different takes on the terms of the deal from the Americans and the Iranians, but what do you think about what you've heard so far? SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Well, Nancy, this war against Iran has been a big blunder from the very start. The president should have stuck to his campaign pledge of keeping us out of war and focused on bringing down prices. He's done just the opposite. Prices are going up, interest rates are going up, and we're mired in this war in Iran. And when you're digging a hole, you should stop digging. That's what this agreement sounds like. It sounds like we will go back to opening the Strait of Hormuz, which, of course, was open before the war started. I will say, however, it looks like Iran will retain more control over those straits. We also know Iran has an even more hardline regime in place now, and we're talking about releasing some of Iran's frozen assets. So, look, my view is, as I said, stop digging. …