Will they stay or will they go?
President Trump held his cards close to the vest as he met with Iraqi President Barham Salih at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
Asked about whether the United States would withdraw its troops from Iraq in the wake of a nonbinding vote by the Iraqi parliament on Jan. 5 disinviting U.S. forces, Trump responded, “We’ll see what happens.”
Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who initially requested the U.S. send a team to work out details of a withdrawal, now says he will leave any formal exit request to the next Iraqi government.
“We’re talking about a lot of different things, and you’ll be hearing whatever we do. But they like what we’re doing and we like them, and we’ve had a very good relationship,” Trump said during a photo opportunity with Salih.
As for the future of U.S. troops, Trump did not rule out a withdrawal.
“We’re down to a very low number. We’re down to 5,000. So we’re down to a very low number, historically low,” he said. “But we are down to a low number, and we’ve been there for quite a while. So we’ll make a determination.”
The State Department initially rebuffed the Iraqi request, which came after the U.S. angered some of Iraq’s Shiite majority with the Jan. 3 drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
In response, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted the U.S. had every intention of continuing its mission to support the Iraqi government and fight the remnants of the Islamic State.
“Any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership — not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East,” said a statement issued Jan. 10 by State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.
Trump also suggested two weeks ago that he would impose harsh sanctions on Iraq if it followed through on its threat to expel U.S. troops, and he would seek reimbursement for the money the U.S. invested in facilities in Iraq.
Asked if sanctions were still on the table, Trump replied, “We’ll see what happens because we do have to do things on our terms.”
Salih said that the U.S. and Iraq “have had an enduring relationship” and share a common goal of defeating ISIS.
“I believe you, and I share the same mission for a stable, sovereign Iraq that is at peace with itself and at peace with its neighbors,” Salih said.
Read more from our senior writer on defense and national security in today’s edition of Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense.
