President Donald Trump welcomed Iraq’s new prime minister to the White House on Tuesday after strongly backing the political neophyte in his bid for office.
Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman with no political background, emerged as a consensus candidate in Iraq after months of deadlock over the premiership following last year’s parliamentary elections. When al-Zaidi was formally installed as prime minister-designate in April, Trump said in a social media post that it was the “beginning of a tremendous new chapter between our Nations - Prosperity, Stability, and Success like never seen before.”
But Trump’s interest and involvement in the next leadership in Iraq began long before that statement. Iraq’s dominant parliamentary bloc, the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shiite parties allied with Iran, initially said it would back former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom the Trump administration views as too close to Tehran.