Trump welcomes Iraq’s Zaidi, hails new era in US-Iraq ties
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threw his full support behind Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi during the Iraqi leader’s first visit to Washington, praising him as a future regional leader while both sides declared a shift in bilateral relations from military cooperation towards trade, investment and energy.
Hosting Zaidi at the White House, Trump described the meeting as “a good meeting” and said the two leaders had developed “a tremendous chemistry”, before inviting the Iraqi premier to an impromptu lunch.
“We’re going to have a long-term relationship with a man that will be a great leader,” Trump said.
Calling Zaidi’s appointment a turning point, Trump said: “Mark my words, I knew what I was doing. This man is going to be a great leader in the Middle East, beyond Iraq. His influence is going to spread all throughout the Middle East.”
Trump also renewed his claim that he had helped secure Zaidi’s rise to office after opposing former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“He won an election that a lot of people didn’t think could be won by anyone except the other candidate, who, in my opinion, was not a good person and not good for America or for Iraq,” Trump said.
“I played a role in this, and it was very important to me that the right person got in, someone who can do the job and do it well.”
Zaidi, a businessman with no previous political experience, became prime minister in May after emerging as a compromise candidate to end months of political deadlock following parliamentary elections. He was not elected directly, despite Trump’s repeated references to an election victory.
The Iraqi leader, speaking through an interpreter, said his visit marked a turning point in relations between Baghdad and Washington.
“This visit to Washington is an announcement of a new economic partnership,” Zaidi said.
“On the 30th of September the US forces will leave Iraq while American companies will enter Iraq. Our relationship is now based on economic cooperation, not military relations. I bring greetings from the oldest civilisation in the world to the economic and technological heart of the region.”
Trump said Washington planned to pursue major commercial agreements with Iraq, particularly in the energy sector.
“Iraq has tremendous potential because of their oil … and we’re going to be doing a lot of deals. We’re going to create a lot of jobs for both countries, and we’re going to be taking out a lot of oil.”
“A lot of oil is coming out, and the American companies are doing it, mostly American companies now.”
Militias at centre of talks
Despite the emphasis on economics, security remained central to the discussions.
Zaidi reaffirmed his government’s September 30 deadline for all armed groups to surrender their weapons before the scheduled departure of the US-led coalition.
“The programme of the government is to restrict the possession of weapons to the state. We will co-operate with those who surrender their weapons,” he said.
“Iraqi decision-making is in the hands of Iraqis only and our security forces are capable of protecting our borders. After September 30, we will not allow any entity besides the state to carry any weapons.”
He added there would be no justification for armed factions to continue operating after the deadline.
Washington has made expanded defence and economic cooperation conditional on measurable progress in disarming Iran-backed militias, some of which attacked US military installations after fighting erupted between the United States, Israel and Iran earlier this year.
A senior Trump administration official said the United States would make “informed” decisions based on Iraq’s actions against the militias.
Following the White House meeting, Zaidi travelled to the Pentagon, where Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated that Iraq must “assert its sovereignty and disarm the Iran-aligned militias” if it wanted deeper strategic ties with Washington.
The visit comes as Baghdad seeks to reduce its dependence on Tehran while balancing domestic political sensitivities surrounding powerful Iran-linked armed groups, whose leaders have rejected calls to disarm.