Trump says the last U.S. troops have left Iraq, and he blames "very bad decision-making" for putting them there.
The withdrawal closes out a 12-year mission against ISIS. Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy reported that Trump announced it in the East Room. Earlier, Trump put out a written statement declaring the chapter closed.
In that statement, Trump wrote:
It has been a long time, with very bad decision-making that got us involved in this quagmire in the first place.
He added that the episode would soon become "part of History."
In the East Room, Trump said, "The sole reason we went to Iraq was to eradicate ISIS, and I did it in my first term." Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell used more careful language. He said the milestone reflected a campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and handed security responsibility back to Baghdad. "Eradicate" and "defeated as an organized military threat" are not the same sentence.
The pullout completes a transition agreement Washington and Baghdad announced in 2024. That deal called for the coalition mission to wind down in phases through September 2026.
Doocy laid out the timeline. The anti-ISIS mission started in 2014. Before that, a U.S. invasion began in 2003 and lasted until 2011. American forces first withdrew in 2011, then returned in 2014 after ISIS seized large areas of Iraq and Syria.
Trump also said 4,500 Americans were killed there. He said they deserve respect, and that they defeated al Qaeda and the Sunni insurgency.
The timing is convenient. Doocy reported that White House officials are trying to steer the conversation toward positive economic news. A clean end to a long war fits the end-the-endless-wars brand.
The coverage we have does not say what U.S. footprint, if any, stays in Iraq. The announcement says the troops are out. The 2024 agreement ran through September 2026.