Trump Warns Iraq Against Maliki's Return: We Will Not Protect You If He Takes Power

SadaNews - U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the United States may stop supporting Iraq if former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki returns to power.

Trump wrote on his platform "Truth Social": "I heard that the great state of Iraq might make a very bad choice by reinstalling Nuri al-Maliki as Prime Minister."

He added: "The last time Maliki was in power, the country sank into poverty and rampant chaos. That should not be repeated."

He continued: "Because of his crazy policies and ideologies, if he is elected, the United States will not provide any assistance to Iraq in the future."

Trump asserted that without U.S. support, Iraq would have no chance of success.

This warning comes after the "Coordination Framework," which includes leaders of winning Shiite parties in the elections, announced Nuri al-Maliki as the candidate for Prime Minister.

It is worth noting that Maliki, who is 75 years old, served as Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014, a period marked by sectarian violence and power struggles with Sunni and Kurdish rivals, in addition to rising tensions with the United States.

He stepped down from office after the Islamic State seized large parts of the country in 2014, but he remains an influential political figure, leading the State of Law coalition and maintaining close ties with Iran-backed factions.

The United States has significant influence in Iraq, where it deposits Iraqi oil export revenues in the Federal Reserve in New York under arrangements made after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

One of Washington's main demands is that Iraq limits the influence of Iran-backed armed Shiite factions, which has earned current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani the trust of the United States since taking office in 2022.

On the other hand, the Iraqi parliament postponed a session to elect the President of the Republic yesterday, Tuesday, at the request of the two main Kurdish parties, which requested a grace period to agree on the candidate's name.

This comes in the context of the power-sharing system in place in Iraq, where a Shiite holds the position of Prime Minister, a Sunni heads the parliament, while the presidency is assigned to a Kurd, a largely ceremonial position.