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Trump to Iraqi PM: How about that oil?
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Trump to Iraqi PM: How about that oil?
President Trump twice raised to the Iraqi prime minister the idea of repaying America for its wars with Iraqi oil, a highly controversial ask that runs afoul of international norms and logic, according to sources with direct knowledge.
Trump appears to have finally given up on this idea, but until now it hasn't been revealed that as president he's raised the concept twice with Iraq's prime minister and brought it up separately in the Situation Room with his national security team.
In March last year, at the end of a White House meeting with Iraq's then-Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Trump brought up the subject of taking oil from Iraq to reimburse the United States for the costs of the war there.
- "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?'"
Between the lines: On the campaign trail, Trump complained that the U.S. had spent trillions in Iraq and lost thousands of lives but got "nothing" in return. He lamented that usually in war "to the victor belong the spoils" and he repeatedly said the U.S. should have seized Iraq's oilfields as reimbursement for the steep costs of the war.
- 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.
In the March meeting, the Iraqi prime minister replied, "What do you mean?" according to the source in the room. "And Trump's like, 'Well, we did a lot, we did a lot over there, we spent trillions over there, and a lot of people have been talking about the oil.'"
Al-Abadi "had clearly prepared," the source added, "and he said something like, '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 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."
Why it matters: Trump's desire to raid Iraq's oil is illegal and unworkable. But it reveals a great deal about his approach to the Middle East. Trump remains hellbent on extracting payments from Middle Eastern countries, in the form of natural resources, for the trillions of dollars America has spent since the early 2000s.
Bob Woodward and others have reported on the formal steps Trump took to push his team to extract rare minerals from Afghanistan as repayment for the war. (Security concerns have stymied that effort; though Afghan's leadership was more open to Trump's pitch than Iraq's leaders have been.)
Trump's national security team has mostly pushed back on or ignored these desires to raid Middle Eastern natural resources. The president raised the issue of oil again with al-Abadi on a phone call in the summer of 2017. 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."
Trump did not react kindly, the source said. "It was frustration that he was trying to get his advisers to do things that he wanted them to do and they were just pushing back."
The bottom line: It's not a one-time thing. Two sources described being in the Situation Room in 2017 with Trump, Defense Secretary Mattis and national security officials discussing Iraq. Both said Trump brought up the prospect of seizing Iraq's oil, and Mattis pushed back.
- "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."
Asked about our reporting, Pentagon chief spokeswoman Dana White said, "We do not discuss internal deliberations, and the secretary's advice and counsel to the president is private." And an NSC spokesperson said, "We do not comment on the details of the president's conversations with foreign leaders."
- 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."
https://www.axios.com/trump-to-iraqi-pm-how-about-that-oil-1a31cbfa-f20c-4767-8d18-d518ed9a6543.html
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Re: Trump to Iraqi PM: How about that oil?
‘What about the OIL?’ Trump REQUESTED Iraq prime minister to pay back US war costs in oil
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.
The US president brought up the thorny subject during a meeting in March 2017 with the then prime minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi. According to Mr Trump, Washington could have taken oil from Iraq as a reimbursement for the costs of the second war in the country, which saw Western troops fighting there between 2003 and 2011. Recalling the moment Mr Trump made the request, an anonymous source who was in the room as the conversation took place told US news corporation Axios: "It was a very run-of-the-mill, low-key, meeting in general."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?'"
The bizarre request caused the Iraqi prime minister to ask Mr [url=https://www.express.co.uk/latest/donald trump]Trump[/url] “what do you mean”, the source added. They continued: "And Trump's like, 'Well, we did a lot, we did a lot over there, we spent trillions over there, and a lot of people have been talking about the oil.'"
But the request didn’t go down well with Mr Al-Abadi, who according to the source was “prepared” to hit back.
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.
[size=14]
[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."
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Re: Trump to Iraqi PM: How about that oil?
TRUMP TWICE FLOATED PLUNDERING IRAQ’S OIL TO IRAQ’S PRIME MINISTER
Donald Trump has long been obsessed with the idea of seizing Iraq’s oil as some kind of reimbursement for the money the U.S. has spent waging war in the Middle East. “I still can’t believe we left Iraq without the oil,” he tweeted in 2013. “It used to be, ‘To the victor belong the spoils,’” he told Matt Lauer during a campaign forum in 2016. “Now, there was no victor there, believe me. There was no victor. But I always said: take the oil.” The notion of looting Iraq’s natural resources—or as Trump explained the process to Lauer, “we would leave a certain group behind and you would take various sections where they have the oil”—was always certifiably crazy. But as with many of the ideas espoused by Trump while he was running for president, few believed he would actually try to make good on the talking point once he moved into the Oval Office. As we now know, that was some deluded wishful thinking by people who were attempting to convince themselves that Trump’s apparent insanity was part of a strategy, and not clear evidence of the real-estate developer’s mental decline. Still, one would think that even if Trump continued to believe Iraq should “repay” the U.S. in crude, he would keep that thought on the down low—or, at the very least, not raise it with the prime minister of Iraq. Can you see where this is going?
Axios reports that over the course of the past two years, Trump has repeatedly come back to the idea that the U.S. should seize Iraq’s oil as some kind of payment for the cost of military subjugation. His conviction is so strong, in fact, that he made mention of it in March 2017 at the end of a meeting with Iraq’s then-Prime Ninister Haider al-Abadi, casually asking, “So what are we going to do about the oil?” According to sources present at the meeting, al-Abadi replied something along the lines of, “What do you mean?,” at which point Trump busted out his famous logic, telling the P.M., “Well, we did a lot, we did a lot over there, we spent trillions over there, and a lot of people have been talking about the oil.” Al-Abadi, explaining in what we assume was his best talking to a small child or very large idiot voice, reportedly responded, “Well, you know Mr. President, we work very closely with a lot of American companies and American energy companies have interests in our country.” Sources in the room, who were presumably experiencing the first in a series of waves of mortification associated with working for Trump, apparently thought to themselves “Wow, he said it,” and described the vibe as “a look down and reach for your coffee moment.” “It was still early on in the administration,” an individual briefed about the story at the time told Axios, “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.”
Despite top national security officials from both parties panning the idea as a violation of international law that would feed into the hands of America’s foes, the president, who’s never been a quick learner, reportedly decided to try his luck again several months later in a phone call with al-Abadi, angering his then-national security adviser.
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.”
While completely insane, Trump’s proposal fits perfectly into his worldview, wherein he has zero understanding of the importance of international alliances and routinely threatens to pull out of long-standing agreements because he thinks he’s getting ripped off. (On the flip side, he’s willing to cede the moral high ground if he thinks he’s getting something out of it.)
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/trump-iraq-oil
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