US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that the United States would end all support for Iraq if former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki returns to power.
Trump said Iraq would be making a “very bad choice” by bringing Maliki back. Maliki has been nominated for the post by the largest Shiite political bloc in the country.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that when Maliki was last in office, Iraq fell into poverty and chaos. He said this should not be allowed to happen again.
Trump said that because of Maliki’s policies and ideology, the United States would stop helping Iraq if he is elected prime minister. He added that without US support, Iraq would have no chance of success, prosperity or freedom.
Maliki stepped down in 2014 after pressure from the United States, which blamed his sectarian policies for contributing to the rise of the Islamic State group.
The United States holds significant leverage over Iraq, as most of the country’s oil export revenues are kept at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York under an arrangement made after the 2003 US invasion. Oil sales make up around 90 per cent of Iraq’s government income.
Trump’s comments came days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised similar concerns in a phone call with current prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Political sources said Washington had also sent a letter to Iraqi leaders stating its negative view of Maliki.
By tradition, Iraq’s prime minister has been a Shiite Muslim since the fall of Saddam Hussein. On Saturday, the Coordination Framework, a group of Shiite parties that holds a majority in parliament, backed Maliki’s nomination.
