President Donald Trump will withhold aid to Iraq if the parliament elects former Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to return as the head of government.
Trump made the threat via social media on Tuesday, denouncing al Maliki’s previous performance as prime minister and questioning his ideological alignment.
“I’m hearing that the Great Country of Iraq might make a very bad choice by reinstalling Nouri al Maliki as Prime Minister,” the president said on Truth Social. “Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos. That should not be allowed to happen again.”
He continued: “Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq and, if we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom. MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN!”
The Shia Coordination Framework, a majority alliance of Shia political blocs in the Iraqi parliament, selected al Maliki as its nominee for prime minister due to his “political and administrative experience and his role in managing the state.”
Iraq follows a complex sectarian quota system of government, which requires the prime minister to be a Shia Muslim, the speaker of the parliament to be a Sunni Muslim, and the president of the country to be a Kurd.
Al Maliki previously held the premiership following the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He was elected in 2006 with the approval of then-President George W. Bush’s administration, which saw him as a potential reformer to follow the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein.
Relations went south quickly after the U.S. government began to accuse al Maliki of exploiting his position to push sectarian violence and “increase, rather than reduce, Sunni-Shi’a and ethnic Arab-Kurdish tensions.”
Al Maliki was also accused of overseeing widespread embezzlement and corruption schemes throughout the Iraqi government, having fired the fraud monitors put in place to prevent exploitation. He served until 2014, when he stepped down under domestic and international pressure.
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Al Maliki is widely perceived as being closely tied to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which the U.S. State Department has monitored amid increasing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The election of the Iraqi president has been delayed to allow further consultations among Kurdish political parties tasked with selecting the candidate. Once that candidate is selected, both the Shia and Sunni blocs will be required to approve them before the president can appoint the new prime minister.