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.”
US President Donald Trump told Rudaw's @diyarkurda
that Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi is “somebody that we support very strongly,” adding that “with our help, he won.” pic.twitter.com/b2fewgrBrF