President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Iraqis not to reinstate controversial former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for another term due to his alleged corruption and serious mismanagement of the country’s economy and security situation.
Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform: “I hear that the Great Country of Iraq could be making a very bad choice by reinstalling Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister. The last time Maliki was in power, the country fell into poverty and total chaos. That must not happen again. Because of its insane policies and ideologies, the United States of America, if elected, will no longer help Iraq and if we are not there to help, Iraq has NO chance of success, prosperity or freedom. MAKE IRAQ AGAIN AMAZING!”
A parliamentary session was scheduled for Tuesday to elect a president, who would then appoint the prime minister. The meeting was canceled due to the lack of a quorum.
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki holds the ballot paper at a polling station in Baghdad on November 11, 2025 during Iraq’s parliamentary elections. Iraq is holding parliamentary elections, which analysts say Iran will be watching closely as it hopes to maintain influence over its neighbor after losing regional influence during the Gaza war. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
Al-Maliki fired back at Trump on Wednesday, saying: “We reject blatant US interference in Iraq’s internal affairs and consider it a violation of its sovereignty.”
The Trump administration strongly opposes al-Maliki’s efforts to secure a third term due to his close ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran – a state sponsor of terrorism, according to the US State Department.
Al-Maliki’s previous premiership (2006 to 2014) was plagued by sectarian violence, including his reported failure to form an inclusive government that did not discriminate against Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Muslims in favor of Shia Muslims.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told interim Prime Minister al-Sudani on Sunday that the US is concerned about a pro-Iranian government taking control of the Iraqi state.
“The secretary emphasized that an Iranian-controlled government cannot successfully put Iraq’s own interests first, keep Iraq out of regional conflict, or advance the mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and Iraq,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
MYSTERY ENVIRONMENT VISIT TO DC BY IRAN-BACKED IRAQI JUDGE WHO ISSUED PROTECTION FOR TRUMP
Al-Maliki ended his second term in 2014 following the Obama administration’s growing frustration over its security blind spots, which the same year saw the rise of the Islamic State in much of Iraqi and Syrian territory.
Al-Sudani won the most seats in November’s parliamentary elections, but withdrew his candidacy this month. The 75-year-old al-Maliki, from the Shiite Islamist Dawa party, threw his hat into the political ring and won the support of the Coordination Framework, a collection of Shiite parties that forms the largest parliamentary bloc.
Supporters of Iraqi pro-Iranian groups hold photos of Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders killed in Israeli airstrikes in Tehran during a protest in Baghdad near the Green Zone, the ultra-secure neighborhood where the US embassy is located, on June 16, 2025, amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
Qanbar, who worked as a civil engineer in Iraq, added: “As for the Iraqi elections, the process itself is systematically designed to ensure that Iran’s allies win without meaningful resistance. These elections are not contests between Iranian-backed factions and genuine alternatives; rather, they are mechanisms to divide the vote among groups already approved by Iran. Any genuine dissent has been banned, jailed or eliminated.”
He noted that “I have often used the analogy that the Iraqi elections are like a football match with only one goal, no goalkeeper and only one team allowed on the field,” and warned, “The United States does not see these structural manipulations.”
Iranian-backed Shia fighter groups celebrate in the streets after the IRGC attack on Israel in Basra, Iraq, October 1, 2024. (Essam Al-Sudani/Reuters)
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) is an umbrella organization of Shia militias loyal to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The PMF has enormous power in Iraq.
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The Iraqi Kurdish official said: “Economically, Iran’s oil mixing in Basra has been formalized with official state support. Financially, Iraq’s state and private banks have channeled billions of US dollar bills to Iran under Sudan, providing Tehran with critical relief from US sanctions.”
The official added: “Iran has of course always been at the forefront in Iraq. When pro-Western candidate Ayad Allawi defeated Maliki in the 2010 elections, it was the Americans who gave Maliki a second term – a strange moment of alignment with Iran, against their own desired outcome.” He said he hopes the US will not make the same mistake again.
