Trump says Iraq PM-designate won candidacy ‘with our help’

Diyar Kurda

WASHINGTON DC - US President Donald Trump said Friday Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi secured his candidacy “with our help,” adding that Washington supports him “very strongly.”

“With our help, he won, and we want him to do very well,” Trump told Rudaw while speaking to reporters outside the White House. “The new head of Iraq is somebody that we support very strongly.”

After prolonged political wrangling, Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework - the largest bloc in parliament - on Monday named Zaidi as its candidate for prime minister, a post traditionally held by a Shiite.

“I was very strongly in favor of him in Iraq,” Trump added.

Trump on Thursday invited Zaidi to visit Washington during a phone call, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wished Zaidi success in his “work to form a new Government free from terrorism that could deliver a brighter future for Iraq,” describing his nomination as “the beginning of a tremendous new chapter between our Nations.”

“We had a long conversation yesterday. I congratulated him,” Trump said Friday, adding that, “I told him that the United States is with him all the way.”

Zaidi’s nomination came after State of Law Coalition leader and former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani both sought the position. In January, the Shiite bloc nominated Maliki, but Trump strongly opposed his return to power, calling the move a “very bad decision” and warning that Washington would “no longer help Iraq” if he were selected.

On April 11, parliament elected Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) nominee Amedi as president. Under Iraq’s constitution, once sworn in, the president has up to 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a government.