Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki forcefully rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s public denunciation of the likelihood that al-Maliki may once again become Iraq’s prime minister. On January 24, the Shia Coordination Framework, the largest Shia bloc in Parliament, said that it had picked al-Maliki, leader of the Islamic Dawa Party, as its nominee for the post, based on his “political and administrative experience and his role in managing the state.” This would virtually guarantee that al-Maliki, who has a decent working relationship with Iran, would be elected Iraq’s next prime minister.
On January 27, Trump ranted in a post on his Truth Social platform, “Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos. That should not be allowed to happen again. Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq.”
