Trump, Kadhimi launch new chapter in US-Iraq relations
US offers Iraqi prime minister aid, energy deals and continued cooperation against Islamic State.
A week or so after his administration helped broker the normalization of UAE-Israel ties, US President Donald Trump was focused again on the Middle East, promising a new course in US-Iraq relations in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Respect
In introducing Kadhimi at the White House on Thursday, Trump referred to the prime minister as “a very highly respected gentleman all over the Middle East, and respected very much by our country, too.”
Kadhimi, also the head of Iraq’s National Intelligence Service, is an independent in a country thick with well-worn ethnic and sectarian political alliances and loyalties.
