Trump threatens to end Iraq aid if Nouri al-Maliki becomes prime minister again
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday appealed to Iraqis not to reinstate controversial former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a new term over his corruption and serious mismanagement of the country’s economy and security situation.
Trump wrote Truth Social platform: “I hear that the Great Nation of Iraq could make a very bad choice by reinstating Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister. The last time Maliki was in power, the country was plunged into poverty and complete chaos. This should not be allowed to happen again. Because of his crazy policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq and Iraq will have ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity and Freedom if we are not there to help. MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN!”
A parliamentary session is scheduled for Tuesday to elect a president and later appoint a prime minister. The meeting was canceled due to lack of quorum.
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Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki holds a ballot paper at a polling station in Baghdad during the Iraqi parliamentary elections on November 11, 2025. Parliamentary elections are being held in Iraq, and analysts say Iran will be watching them closely as it hopes to maintain its influence over its neighbor after losing regional influence during the Gaza war. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
Al-Maliki hit back at Trump on Wednesday, saying, “We reject America’s blatant interference in Iraq’s internal affairs and see it as a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.” he said.
The Trump administration strongly opposes attempts by al-Maliki to secure a third term due to his close ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran, a state that supports terrorism, according to the US State Department.
Al-Maliki’s previous premiership (2006 to 2014) was plagued by sectarian violence, including his failure to form an inclusive government that did not discriminate against Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Muslims in favor of Shiite Muslims.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told interim Prime Minister Al-Sudani on Sunday that the United States is concerned about a pro-Iranian government taking control of the Iraqi state.
“The Secretary emphasized that a government controlled by Iran cannot successfully put Iraq’s own interests first, keep Iraq out of regional conflicts, or foster the mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and Iraq,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
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Al-Maliki finished his second term in 2014 following growing frustration with the Obama administration’s security blind spots, which saw the rise of the Islamic State across large swathes of Iraq and Syria that same year.
Al Sudani won the most seats in parliamentary elections in November but withdrew his candidacy this month. Al-Maliki, 75, of the Shiite Islamist Dawa Party, threw his hat into the political arena and won the support of the Coordination Framework of Shiite parties, the largest parliamentary bloc.
Supporters of Iraqi pro-Iran groups hold photos of Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders killed in Israeli airstrikes in Tehran during a protest near the green zone, the ultra-secure zone that houses the US embassy in Baghdad, amid the Israel-Iran conflict, on June 16, 2025. (Photo: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
Entifadh Kanbar, former spokesman for the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, told Fox News Digital: “Iran has tremendous influence in Iraq. Ayatollah Khamenei personally ‘blessed’ Nouri al-Maliki’s candidacy. Even if Maliki ultimately falls, Iran will nominate another candidate who is secretly accepted by Washington. This person could even be given the space to say the right things in public to appease the US and at the same time remain in full alignment with the US.” Tehran behind the scenes.”
Qanbar, who works as a civil engineer in Iraq, added: “As for the Iraqi elections, the process itself was systematically designed to ensure Iran’s proxies won without meaningful resistance. These elections are not contests between Iran-backed groups and genuine alternatives; rather, they are mechanisms for dividing the vote between groups already sanctioned by Iran. Any genuine opposition has been banned, imprisoned or eliminated.”
“I have often used the analogy that the Iraqi elections are like a football match with one goal, no goalkeeper and only one team allowed on the field,” he warned, adding that “the United States cannot see these structural manipulations.”
Fighters from Iran-backed Shiite groups celebrate on the street following the Revolutionary Guard attack on Israel in Basra, Iraq, on October 1, 2024. (Essam Al Sudani/Reuters)
An Iraqi Kurdish official also echoed the view that Iran has greater control over Iraq’s power politics. “Under the Sudanese government, Iran’s proxies have doubled the state payroll and are receiving over $3 billion a year. He founded the Muhandes company, which is the investment wing of the PMF, securing public contracts and purchasing weapons,” the official told Fox News Digital.
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) is the umbrella organization of Shiite militias loyal to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The PMF has tremendous power in Iraq.
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The Iraqi Kurdish official said: “Economically, Iran’s oil blending in Basra has been formalized with official state support. Financially, Iraq’s state and private banks have poured billions of dollars of US dollars into Sudanese-ruled Iran, providing Tehran with critical relief from US sanctions.”
The official added: “Iran, of course, has always been ahead of the rest in Iraq. When pro-Western candidate Iyad Allawi defeated Maliki in the 2010 elections, it was the Americans who gave Maliki a second term; a strange moment of alignment with Iran against their own preferred outcome.” He said he hoped the United States would not make the same mistake again.
