The U.S. military will withdraw from Iraq by the end of September, according to American and Iraqi officials, ending a 23-year presence that began with the 2003 invasion against then-leader Saddam Hussein.
U.S. President Donald Trump, standing alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at the White House, said that “we do not think we need the military there anymore” and highlighted Iraq’s growing relations with oil companies.
“The relationship is a great relationship where we don’t need the military,” Trump said. “We are there to help them. We are there to protect them if necessary. But we don’t think that will be necessary.”
Speaking through an interpreter, al-Zaidi said that “U.S. forces will leave Iraq” by September 30, “while American companies will remain inside Iraq.”
The Pentagon later emphasized in a statement that it was reaffirming a 2024 agreement with Iraq to end its mission against the terrorist group ISIS, foreign media reported, citing Telegrafi.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth also stressed that a normal bilateral defense relationship depends on a stable security environment “free from terrorist pressure.”
Many of the U.S. troops still stationed in Iraq at the time of the agreement, which was reached during Joe Biden’s administration, have already left.
The United States has shifted the burden of fighting ISIS in Iraq from American and coalition forces to Iraqi troops that have been trained by the U.S. military.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces have reduced their presence by withdrawing from certain areas and consolidating their remaining forces.
