Al-Maliki has been nominated by the most important Shia bloc in parliament as its candidate for PM.
Printed On 27 Jan 2026
President Donald Trump has threatened that the USA will finish help for Iraq if Nouri al-Maliki, a former prime minister with ties to the US’s longstanding foe Iran, is reinstated to the submit.
Trump, in his newest intervention in a foreign country’s politics, mentioned on Tuesday that Iraq could be making a “very unhealthy selection” with al-Maliki, who simply days beforehand was nominated by the Coordination Framework, the most important Shia bloc in parliament, as its candidate.
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“Final time Maliki was in energy, the Nation descended into poverty and whole chaos. That shouldn’t be allowed to occur once more,” Trump wrote on his Fact Social platform.
“Due to his insane insurance policies and ideologies, if elected, the USA of America will now not assist Iraq,” he mentioned.
“If we’re not there to assist, Iraq has ZERO likelihood of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom. MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump’s feedback are the starkest instance but of the Republican president’s marketing campaign to curb Iran-linked teams’ affect in Iraq, which has lengthy walked a tightrope between its two closest allies, Washington and Tehran.
In a letter, US representatives mentioned that whereas the choice of the prime minister is an Iraqi resolution, “the USA will make its personal sovereign selections relating to the following authorities in keeping with American pursuits”.
As a part of Trump’s stress marketing campaign, Washington has additionally threatened senior Iraqi politicians with sanctions on the nation ought to armed teams backed by Iran be included within the subsequent authorities, the Reuters information company reported final week.
Al-Maliki, 75, is a senior determine within the Shia Islamist Dawa Social gathering. His tenure as prime minister from 2006 to 2014 was a interval marked by an influence wrestle with Sunni and Kurdish rivals and rising tensions with the US.
He stepped down after ISIL (ISIS) seized giant elements of the nation in 2014, however has remained an influential political participant, main the State of Legislation coalition and sustaining shut ties with Iran-backed factions.
The US wields key leverage over Iraq, because the nation’s oil export income is basically held on the Federal Reserve Financial institution in New York in an association reached after the 2003 US invasion that toppled Iraqi chief Saddam Hussein.
