President Trump on Wednesday celebrated the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, declaring the move a win for both nations more than 20 years after the Iraq War began.
Speaking at a Hispanic Heritage event at the White House, the president wasted no time framing the pullout as a triumph on several fronts at once.
“It’s a victory for the United States, it’s a victory for Iraq and a decisive victory over ISIS, which has been completely decimated,” Trump said.
The remarks closely tracked a message the president posted on Truth Social before the event, where he made clear the decision was his to make and that he had no doubts about the direction he chose.
“I had a choice to stay or to leave, and felt, without question, that it was time for America to go home!” the president wrote.
Trump’s message was straightforward: the mission in Iraq is over, and he believes ending it was the right call.
The president also offered his backing to Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who was elected to his post in May. Al-Zaidi sat down with Trump at the White House in July, and the president’s show of support signals where the relationship between the two leaders stands as the U.S. military presence in the country comes to a close.
Trump’s comments came on the heels of an announcement from U.S. Central Command, known as Centcom, that American forces had departed Iraq. The move brings an end to the command’s 12-year military mission in the country.
According to Centcom, all U.S. forces and military equipment have left Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq. The command said the departure would mark the start of a transition “to a U.S.-Iraq bilateral defense relationship,” a shift away from the military mission that defined the past 12 years.
Centcom commander Adm. Brad Cooper addressed the handoff in a statement, saying full primary responsibility for Iraq’s security now rests with the Iraqi government and the “brave people of Iraq.”
Cooper stressed, however, that the U.S. is not letting its guard down. He said American troops in the region will maintain “vigilance and readiness” as they focus on “protecting the U.S. homeland and strengthening regional security.”
Taken together, the statements from the White House and Centcom paint a picture of a deliberate transition: U.S. forces and equipment out of Iraq, security responsibility handed to the Iraqi government and people, and American troops in the region remaining ready.
The withdrawal closes a long and costly chapter in American history. The U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, toppling dictator Saddam Hussein. Former President George W. Bush led the U.S. effort without a formal declaration of war, and the conflict continued for years after Bush left the White House.
Now, more than two decades after that invasion, the president is casting the final exit of U.S. forces as a victory for America, a victory for Iraq and a defeat for ISIS.
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