US military will be out of Iraq by end of September: PM

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo)

The U.S. military will leave Iraq by the end of September, American and Iraqi officials said Tuesday, following a 23-year presence that started with the 2003 invasion against Saddam Hussein and ended with much smaller operations against ISIL.

President Donald Trump, standing alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at the White House, said “we don’t think we need the military there anymore” and noted Iraq’s growing relationships with oil companies.

“The relationship is a whole big relationship where we don’t need the military,” Trump said. “We’re there to help them. We’re there to protect them if need be. But we don’t think that’s going to be necessary.”

Speaking through an interpreter, al-Zaidi said “U.S. forces will be out of Iraq” by Sept. 30, “while U.S. companies will be inside Iraq.”

The Pentagon said in a subsequent statement that it was reaffirming a 2024 agreement with Iraq to end its mission against ISIL. Many of the U.S. troops still serving in Iraq at the time of the deal, which was made during the Biden administration, already have departed.

The United States has been shifting the burden for combating ISIL in Iraq from American and coalition forces to Iraqi troops who have been trained by the U.S. military. American troops have been diminishing their footprint, withdrawing from areas and consolidating forces.