Trump said: “If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq.”
The warning comes after Iraq’s parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to oust U.S. troops in retaliation for the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
The State Department expressed its disappointment over the vote, urging Baghdad to reconsider it.
Trump framed his threat of biting sanctions in terms of U.S. military investments in Iraq, referencing in particular an air base the U.S. has helped develop.
“We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build,” he added. “We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it.”
Trump did not specify which air base he was referring to, but it was likely the Al Asad airbase in central Iraq’s Anbar province. The facility is jointly operated by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds force, was assasinated in a U.S. drone strike outside Baghdad airport early Friday.
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