Baghdad: Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi met with US President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations, expand economic cooperation, and explore opportunities for US companies to participate in development projects in Iraq, particularly in the oil sector. A statement from the Prime Minister's Media Office said: "President Trump received al-Zaidi at the White House, and the meeting included an exchange of views and approaches between Iraq and the United States regarding bilateral relations, security and intelligence cooperation, and strengthening joint efforts to establish stability in the region."

According to National Iraqi News Agency, in remarks following the meeting, the Prime Minister indicated that his visit aimed to build a robust economic partnership. He added, "With the end of the US military presence in Iraq as part of the international coalition against ISIS, there will be an economic presence through US companies, and it is the social relationship that supports economic sectors, not the military partnership."

Al-Zaidi explained that "the partnership between Iraq and the United States is like a link between one of the world's oldest civilizations, represented by Iraq, and the heart of the global economy, represented by the United States, with a focus on opportunities that support the interests of both the Iraqi and American people." He noted that "Iraq needs a strategic partner of the size of the United States to overcome the economic and technological challenges it faces."

He emphasized that "the development plans and economic partnership that Iraq seeks with the United States are in the interest of all parts and components of Iraq, and that efforts to strengthen the economy include the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, just as they include Basra, Anbar, and the other Iraqi provinces."

For his part, the US President explained that his country supported Iraq in the fight against ISIS and that it supports the al-Zaidi government in strengthening stability and the economic steps that underscore the bilateral partnership and the great importance that Iraq represents in the field of energy and the international economy.