Cyprus News Agency

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the last American forces are leaving Iraq.

Trump said the American presence in Iraq was coming to an end, stating, “Today, I am pleased to announce that the last American forces are leaving Iraq.” Criticizing the decisions that led to U.S. involvement in Iraq, Trump said this period would soon become part of history.

Trump said he supported Iraq’s new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi, stating that al-Zaydi had achieved an unexpected election victory and won the election by a large margin.

Trump said the operation in Iraq was launched in 2003 under the administration of then-U.S. President George W. Bush and continued in 2014 under the Barack Obama administration, adding that Operation Inherent Resolve ended in 2026 during his presidency.

Trump described the end of the operation as a victory for the United States and Iraq and claimed that the fight against ISIS had been completed. Trump also said the orderly departure of coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base showed that the U.S. presence in Iraq had come to an end.

Saying the United States had made a choice between staying in Iraq and leaving, Trump said, “I thought it was time for America to come home.”

Trump said, “We came to fight the caliphate. There is no caliphate anymore. We are coming home.”