Trump Welcomes Iraqi Prime Minister at the White House: We Will Strike Many Deals

US President Donald Trump welcomed the new Iraqi Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi, at the White House, describing him as “a great friend of America.”

Trump touched upon the possibility of striking oil deals with Iraq, stating, “We will make many deals. We will create many jobs in both countries, and we will extract large quantities of oil.”

For his part, al-Zaidi emphasized during a joint press conference with the US president that the decision to centralize weapons under state control had been made and that no entity would be allowed to bear arms outside state control after the September 30 deadline, stressing that “the Iraqi decision rests solely with the Iraqis.”

He added, “After September 30, we will not allow any entity to bear arms outside the state.”

He stressed that this visit, his first to the United States since assuming office, was not “transient but a declaration of economic partnership” between the two countries, noting that “the community partnership is an economic one, not a military one.”

Al-Zaidi is accompanied by an official delegation on his week-long visit, during which he will meet US officials and representatives of oil and energy companies.