{"id":105915,"date":"2020-08-20T18:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T01:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=105915"},"modified":"2020-08-20T18:00:39","modified_gmt":"2020-08-21T01:00:39","slug":"president-trump-and-prime-minister-mustafa-al-kadhimi-of-the-republic-of-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=105915","title":{"rendered":"President Trump and Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi of the Republic of Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you very much. It\u2019s great to have the Prime Minister of Iraq, a very highly respected gentleman all over the Middle East, and respected very much by our country, too. I can say that.  And we will be discussing, today, the obvious: defense \u2014 and offense, I have to say. But we\u2019ll be discussing military. We\u2019re also involved in many oil projects and oil development within their country, and I think we\u2019ve had a very, very good relationship since we started.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JEdQr1wjXIs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re down to a very small number of soldiers in Iraq now. We defeated the ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and it\u2019s \u2014 that has been defeated very strongly, and it does have a different feeling to it now that you\u2019ve got it. We had it at 98 percent, and we said, \u201cWell, we can leave.\u201d And then, everybody said, \u201cWould you bring it to 100 percent?\u201d Then we brought it 100 percent.<\/p>\n<p>But the relationship is very good. We have become friends. We have become, I think, friendly. I think our relationship now is better than ever before. But we have very few soldiers in Iraq, and \u2014 but we\u2019re there to help. And the Prime Minister knows that. We are there to help. We\u2019re with some people that also \u2014 Mike and Mike \u2014 we \u2014 and Robert. We very much feel that if Iran should do anything, we will be there to help the Iraqi people.<\/p>\n<p>So, that\u2019s where we are. We\u2019re doing big trade deals, we\u2019re doing military deals, and we\u2019re doing military purchases by them, where they\u2019re spending a lot of money on purchasing equipment and they\u2019re building up their military rapidly, and we like to see that.<\/p>\n<p>So, thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister, for being here. I appreciate it. Please.<\/p>\n<p>PRIME MINISTER KADHIMI: Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to thank you for receiving us in the White House today. I\u2019m grateful for all the support offered by the United States to Iraq during the war against ISIS.<\/p>\n<p>This support has built our partnership for the best interests for our nation. Mr. President, yesterday we signed many contact \u2014 many contracts with American companies \u2014 over (inaudible). Iraq is open for American business and investment and for a better future for Iraq and Iraqi people.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>PRIME MINISTER KADHIMI: Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Very much.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President, what\u2019s your reaction to the indictment of your former campaign aid, Steve Bannon?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I feel very badly. I haven\u2019t been dealing with him for a long period of time, as most of the people in this room know. He was involved in our campaign. He worked for Goldman Sachs. He worked for a lot of companies. But he was involved, likewise, in our campaign, and for a small part of the administration, very early on. I haven\u2019t been dealing with him at all.<\/p>\n<p>I know nothing about the project, other than I didn\u2019t like \u2014 when I read about it, I didn\u2019t like it. I said, \u201cThis is for government. This isn\u2019t for private people.\u201d And it sounded, to me, like showboating. And I think I let my opinion be very strongly stated at the time. I didn\u2019t like it. It was showboating and maybe looking for funds. But you\u2019ll have to see what happens.<\/p>\n<p>I think it\u2019s a very sad thing for Mr. Bannon. I think it\u2019s surprising. But this was something, as you know, just by reading social media and by reading whatever it is, and by speaking to Mike and Mike and all of them, I didn\u2019t like that project. I thought that was a project that was being done for showboating reasons.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know that he was in charge. I didn\u2019t know any of the other people either. But it\u2019s sad. It\u2019s very sad.<\/p>\n<p>Q But it\u2019s not just Steve Bannon. It\u2019s Roger Stone. It\u2019s Michael Flynn. It\u2019s Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen. What does it say about your judgment that these are the kind of people who you\u2019re affiliated with \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I have no idea.<\/p>\n<p>Q \u2014 and the culture of lawlessness \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>Q \u2014 around people who are involved in the leadership of your 2016 campaign?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, no, there was great lawlessness in the Obama administration. They spied on our campaign illegally. And if you look at all of the things and all of the scandals they had, they had tremendous lawlessness.<\/p>\n<p>But I know nothing about it. I was not involved in the project. I have no idea who was. But I can tell you: I didn\u2019t know the people; the three people that were talked about were people that I did not know. I don\u2019t believe I ever met them.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think that should be a privately financed wall. I don\u2019t think \u2014 it\u2019s too complex; it\u2019s too big. And we\u2019re now up to 300 miles, almost. In another week, week and a half, we\u2019ll be up to 300 miles of wall at the highest level. They were even having construction problems.<\/p>\n<p>I was reading \u2014 the little I know about it, I got from you. I was reading, where they were having construction problems with the wall that they were \u2014 they had a small area just to show people that they could build a wall, and they were having a lot of problems where it was toppling over and other things. And I didn\u2019t like it because I didn\u2019t want to be associated with that.<\/p>\n<p>We built a very powerful wall. It was a wall that is virtually impossible to get through. It\u2019s very, very tough. It\u2019s very strong, and it\u2019s everything the Border Patrol wanted. And I didn\u2019t want to have a wall that was going to be an inferior wall. And I felt this was going to be an inferior wall.<\/p>\n<p>Q Kris Kobach said you endorsed the wall. Is that true? The project.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: So I didn\u2019t \u2014 I didn\u2019t know \u2014 I didn\u2019t know that. I didn\u2019t know about Bannon\u2019s involvement, but I didn\u2019t know any \u2014 I didn\u2019t know the other people. And I \u2014 but I do think it\u2019s a sad event.<\/p>\n<p>And, again, Steve has had a great career at Goldman Sachs. He\u2019s had a career with a lot of other people. I haven\u2019t dealt with him at all, over years now \u2014 literally, years. And I guess this was a project he was involved in, but it was something that \u2014 in fact, you can see I made statements about it a long time ago. It was something that I very much felt was inappropriate to be doing.<\/p>\n<p>Okay. Please go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>(Cross-talk.)<\/p>\n<p>No, go ahead, please.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President, the end of the militia roles in Iraq \u2014 it\u2019s one of the very important issues to stabilize the country in Iraq. How America is going to support ending the militia role in Iraq and \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: You know, you\u2019re \u2014 you\u2019re very hard to understand. Could you maybe help me with it?<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Wait. Go ahead. Try it again.<\/p>\n<p>Q (No translation provided.)<\/p>\n<p>PRIME MINISTER KADHIMI: (As interpreted.) The United States helped the \u2014 helped Iraq enormously in defeating ISIS and also in toppling the Saddam Hussein regime. We are working on building a strong relationship that is based on joint interests between Iraq and the United States, that is based on economic interest for the better future of the Iraqi people and the United States people.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: When I got to \u2014 when we came into office, ISIS was running rampant all over Iraq and Syria. And we knocked out the \u2014 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate. But the Obama administration did a very, very poor job. They were running rampant all over. And we came in and we did a real job, and we got rid of that, and that was a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>And now we\u2019re working with Iraq. They use the great American Dollar, which is the most powerful currency in the world. And they\u2019re starting to do well. And we are with them. And this gentleman, in particular, we\u2019ve developed a very good relationship. And hopefully, it\u2019s going to be very strong for your country.<\/p>\n<p>Please.<\/p>\n<p>Q Thank you, Mr. President. There have been 32 attacks \u2014 there have been 32 attacks in the last 10 months on U.S. interests in Iraq, particularly in the Green Zone and U.S. military bases. How are you going to help Iraq to halt these attacks by pro-Iranian militia and to hold these people accountable?<\/p>\n<p>And, sir, if I may also, there was some reporting that the U.S. troops will withdraw from Iraq totally in three years. Is this true?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: So, at some point, we obviously will be gone. We\u2019ve brought it down to a very, very low level. We deal \u2014 where there are attacks, we take care of those attacks, and we take care of them very easily. Nobody has the weaponry we have. Nobody has the \u2014 anything \u2014 of what we have. We have the finest, the greatest military in the world. When somebody hits us, we hit back hard than they hit us. So we handle it.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to that, Iraq has been very helpful, where necessary. But we have been taking our troops out of Iraq fairly rapidly, and we look forward to the day when we don\u2019t have to be there. And hopefully Iraq can live their own lives and they can defend themselves, which they\u2019ve been doing long before we got involved.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, please.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President how do you see the role of the Kurds in Iraq?<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President, about \u2014 about the bounties \u2014 about the bounties: You say you hit back hard, but we haven\u2019t seen any definitive strike back for bounties upon Americans.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, you don\u2019t know about the bounties. I mean, you\u2019re telling me \u2014 if you know something, you can let us know, but you obviously don\u2019t know very much about it. But if we found out, that would be true; if we found, that would be a very \u2014 it would be a fact, what you just said. We would hit them so hard your head would spin.<\/p>\n<p>Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President how do you see the role of the Kurds in Iraq? And how is important relationship between Baghdad and Erbil (inaudible)?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, the Kurds helped us greatly in defeating the \u2014 as you know, the ISIS, and getting the ISIS \u2014 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate. So we have a very good relationship with the Kurds, and we\u2019ve also treated them very well.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, please.<\/p>\n<p>Q \u2014 on the bounties \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q Yeah. The end of the militia rules in Iraq is very important to \u2014 to stabilize the country. How America can help ending the militia rules? And how can help Iraq in the democracy process?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, what we\u2019re doing is we\u2019re helping where we can. But again, that\u2019s a country \u2014 that\u2019s a separate country. They have a prime minister, and they have people in office, and they have to run their country. We\u2019ve been in Iraq for a long time. I won\u2019t say whether or not I said we should be there, but frankly, I didn\u2019t think it was a good idea. But I was a civilian, so who\u2019s going to listen to me? But I made my point pretty clear; I guess as clear as a civilian can do it.<\/p>\n<p>But we were there, and now we\u2019re getting out. We\u2019ll be leaving shortly. And the relationship is very good. We\u2019re making very big oil deals. Our oil companies are making massive deals. And that\u2019s basically the story.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, we\u2019re very \u2014 we\u2019re very happy with the relationship that we\u2019ve developed over the last couple of years. I thought, before that, frankly, the United States was being taken advantage of. But we\u2019re going to be leaving, and hopefully we\u2019re going to be leaving a country that can defend itself.<\/p>\n<p>Q While you are here in the United States, there were \u2014 there were airstrikes on northern Iraq, in Kurdistan region, killing one civilian. I know \u2014 in your talks, in your meetings here, you talk a lot about the sovereignty of Iraq. Is that something that you\u2019re looking for help from the United States?<\/p>\n<p>And Mr. President, if that\u2019s something can \u2014 if Iraq is asking for help, in terms of the interference from the neighbors \u2014 not just Iran, but other neighbors where they\u2019re attacking northern Iraq?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, they\u2019ll have to make a specific request, but certainly, the Prime Minister has my ear. So if he does that, we\u2019ll take a look. They do have \u2014 it\u2019s a very unstable part of the world. And I\u2019m not talking about Iraq; I\u2019m talking about the \u2014 the whole of the Middle East. It\u2019s a very, very unstable part of the world.<\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re there to help. And because of the relationship, we would certainly be willing to lend you the kind of support that you need.<\/p>\n<p>PRIME MINISTER KADHIMI: (As interpreted.) Definitely the Turkish attacks are not accepted. On the other hand, the Iraqi constitution also does not allow Iraq to be \u2014 to become used to attack any \u2014 any neighboring \u2014 neighboring country. We are entering dialogue with Turkey to rectify this situation. And I look forward to solving this problem with Turkey and getting our neighbors, the Turks, to understand Iraq\u2019s circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>But once again, the Iraqi constitution does not allow Iraqi territory to be used to attack any neighboring country.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: I will say this: The United States, and me in particular, has a very good relationship with Turkey and with President Erdo\u011fan, and we\u2019ll be talking to him. But we have a very, very good relationship with Turkey and with President Erdo\u011fan.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President, just to follow up on the troops question, sir: Do you have a timeframe for the full and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from \u2014 from Iraq?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Mike, what would you say to that?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY POMPEO: As soon as we can complete the mission. The President has made very clear he wants to get our forces down to the lowest level as quickly as we possibly can. That\u2019s the mission he\u2019s given us, and we\u2019re working with Iraqis to achieve that.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: We\u2019re at the lowest level now, Jeff \u2014 we\u2019re at the lowest level in Afghanistan that we have been in many years. We\u2019ll be down to about 4,000 troops in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY POMPEO: In a couple months.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: And that will be when?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY POMPEO: A couple months, sir.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, within a few months. A couple of months.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President \u2014 one other thing, Mr. President \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: As you know, in Syria we\u2019re down to almost nothing, except we kept the oil. But we\u2019ll work out some kind of a deal with the Kurds on that. But we left, but we kept the oil. And we left the border. We said Turkey and Syria can take care of their own border; we don\u2019t have to do it. And that worked out very well. I remember when I did that, I was scorned by everybody. They said, \u201cThis is terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, I did it. It\u2019s now two years ago. And we did it with \u2014 Mike Pence went over and met with the various parties and very successfully, and we removed our troops. Nobody was killed. Nobody. And now they protect their own border like they have been for hundreds of years. And we\u2019ll \u2014 we\u2019ve left. But we did keep a small force, and we kept the oil. And we\u2019ll make a determination on that oil fairly soon.<\/p>\n<p>Q And just one domestic question, sir: The Manhattan case about your taxes has now ruled that you do need to give your \u2014 to turn over your taxes. Do you have a reaction to that?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, the Supreme Court said, if it\u2019s a fishing expedition, you don\u2019t have to do it. And this is a fishing expedition.<\/p>\n<p>But more importantly, this is a continuation of the witch hunt \u2014 the greatest witch hunt in history. There\u2019s never been anything like it, where people want to examine every deal you\u2019ve ever done to see if they can find that there\u2019s a comma out of place. No President has ever had to go through this. The Supreme Court shouldn\u2019t have allowed this to happen. But no President has ever had to go through this.<\/p>\n<p>But what the Supreme Court did do is say if it\u2019s a fishing expedition, you \u2014 my interpretation is essentially, you don\u2019t have to do it. So we\u2019ll probably end up back in the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>But this is just a continuation of the most hideous witch hunt in the history of our country. We beat Mueller. We won at every level in this \u2014 in Washington, in D.C. We won at every lev- \u2014 level. So, now, what they do: They send it into New York. So now we have an all-Democrat state \u2014 all Democrats. And they send it into New York. This should never be allowed to happen to another President.<\/p>\n<p>This is a continuation of the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our country \u2014 all it is. But the Supreme Court said \u201cfishing expedition.\u201d This is the ultimate fishing expedition. Nobody has anything. We didn\u2019t \u2014 we don\u2019t do things wrong.<\/p>\n<p>But they\u2019ll say, \u201cLet\u2019s go in and inspect every deal he\u2019s ever done. Let\u2019s get papers from 10 years. Every paper. Every deal he\u2019s ever signed. Maybe we can find where some lawyer made a mistake, where they didn\u2019t dot an \u201ci,\u201d where they didn\u2019t put a comma down someplace. And then we can do something.\u201d This is a disgrace and this should never, ever be allowed to happen again.<\/p>\n<p>All right? Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President, on Navalny, the Russian opposition leader: He was hospitalized, and they think he was poisoned. Is that the U.S. government\u2019s determination, that he was \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: We haven\u2019t seen it yet. We\u2019re looking at it. And Mike is going to be reporting to me soon. Okay?<\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much everybody.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you very much. It\u2019s great to have the Prime Minister of Iraq, a very highly respected gentleman all over the Middle East, and respected very much by our country, too. I can say that. And we will be discussing, today, the obvious: defense \u2014 and offense, I have to say. But we\u2019ll be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fullscreen-capture-8202020-55927-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/105917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}