Trump to Iraqi PM: How about that oil?

• "It was a very run-of-the-mill, low-key, meeting in general," a source who was in the room told Axios. "And then right at the end, Trump says something to the effect of, he gets a little smirk on his face and he says, 'So what are we going to do about the oil?'"
  
  

• Top national security figures from both parties condemned Trump's idea, calling it outrageous and unworkable — a violation of international law that would fuel the propaganda of America's foes. 
  
  

• "I remember thinking, 'Wow. He said it. He couldn't help himself,'" the source said.
  
  
• A second source who was in the room confirmed this account. "It was a look down and reach for your coffee moment," the second source said. 
  
  
  
• A third source, who was briefed at the time on the conversation between Trump and al-Abadi, said the back and forth "made its rounds" around the National Security Council. "It was still early on in the administration, and we were all still trying to figure out how this was going to go, and so it was one of those horror stories … he's really going to do this."
  
  

• In the source's recollection, the former national security adviser said to Trump, "We can't do this and you shouldn't talk about it. Because talking about it is just bad," the source said, channeling McMaster, "It's bad for America's reputation, it'll spook allies, it scares everybody, and it makes us look like — I don't remember if he used words this harsh — like criminals and thieves, but that was the point he was trying to get across."
  
  
  
• "You won't be able to do it anyway and you'll harm our reputation and your own reputation just from talking about it."
  
  

• "Trump was like, 'We're idiots,'" recalled one of the sources who was in the Situation Room for the conversation. "[Trump] was like, 'What are we doing there, what do we get out of this, why don't we take the oil?'... And then Mattis spoke up. Made the same point that H.R. made. There's no physical way to do it. It would be a violation of international law, it would be demoralizing for allies in the region, it would give our enemies propaganda — they'd be able to accuse us of theft."
  
  

• The spokesperson continued, "[w]e have long sought to help Iraq achieve energy independence and continue to do so. We are encouraged by recent developments and believe Iraq can satisfy its own demand for energy, stop importing electricity, and increase its oil output to provide essential revenue required to rebuild following ISIS defeat and lay the foundation for Iraq’s future. The United States looks forward to working with the government and people of Iraq to make this possible." 
  

DONALD Trump raised to the Iraqi prime minister the “unworkable” idea of repaying America for its war efforts with the country’s oil, sparking outrage within his administration, it was revealed.

Donald Trump asked Iraq's prime minister to repay US war efforts in oil (Image: GETTY)

They reported him saying: “Well, you know Mr. President, we work very closely with a lot of American companies and American energy companies have interests in our country.”
The source added: ”He was smirking. And the president just kind of tapped his hand on the table as if to say 'I had to ask.'
"I remember thinking, 'Wow. He said it. He couldn't help himself.”
The account was confirmed by a second source, who was also in the room, and described it as an awkward moment, adding: "It was a look down and reach for your coffee moment.”
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Trump had raised the possibility to ask Iraq for compensations, arguing Americans spent trillions of dollars and lost hundreds of lives in the country obtaining “nothing” in return. 


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[size=12]Donald Trump was told off by his then-national security advisor for bringing up the subject (Image: GETTY)

The second war in Iraq lasted for more than eight years (Image: GETTY)
He said: “We’re the only ones, we go in, we spend $3 trillion, we lose thousands and thousands of lives, and then what happens is, we get nothing.
“You know, it used to be to the victor belong the spoils.
“Now, there was no victor there, believe me.
“There was no victor. But I always said: take the oil.”
The idea was immediately condemned by top national security experts, who branded it outrageous and unworkable, as it would breach international law and fuel the propaganda of US' enemies. 

Donald Trump's proposal has been branded outrageous and unworkable by national security experts (Image: GETTY)
After the conversation with Mr Al-Abadi, the then-national security advisor, Herbert Raymond McMaster, told off Mr Trump, warning him similar outbursts make America look like a “criminal”, Axios wrote.
A source with direct knowledge of the conversation said Mr McMaster told the US president: "We can't do this and you shouldn't talk about it. Because talking about it is just bad."
The source added: "He said 'it's bad for America's reputation, it'll spook allies, it scares everybody, and it makes us look like' I don't remember if he used words this harsh, like criminals and thieves, but that was the point he was trying to get across."
Mr McMaster then added, according to the source: “You won't be able to do it anyway and you'll harm our reputation and your own reputation just from talking about it."
When asked to comment on the conversation, Pentagon chief spokeswoman Dana White said: "We do not discuss internal deliberations, and the secretary's advice and counsel to the president is private."    

The conversation was vague and didn’t go anywhere, but H.R. McMaster admonished Trump afterward, according to a source with direct knowledge.

In the source’s recollection, the former national security adviser said to Trump, “We can’t do this and you shouldn’t talk about it. Because talking about it is just bad,” the source said, channeling McMaster, “It’s bad for America’s reputation, it’ll spook allies, it scares everybody, and it makes us look like—I don’t remember if he used words this harsh—like criminals and thieves, but that was the point he was trying to get across.”

“You won’t be able to do it anyway and you’ll harm our reputation and your own reputation just from talking about it.”