On Monday, President Trump congratulated the Iraqi Security Forces on their victory against ISIS in the city of Mosul. The statement was delivered by Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during an off-camera briefing.
Praising Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Trump began by highlighting the courage of both Iraqi troops and Kurdish Peshmerga forces who waged a months-long battle to liberate millions of Iraqis held hostage by ISIS fanatics in the terror group’s de facto capital in Iraq.
“The victory in Mosul, where ISIS proclaimed its so called ‘caliphate’ signals that its days in Iraq and Syria are numbered,” said the president after not-so-subtly taking a jab at the Obama administration for its lack of resolve in its anti-ISIS war and insisting that more “progress” has been made in the last six months than in “the years since ISIS became a major threat.”
Read President Trump’s full statement below:
Statement from President Trump on the liberation of Mosul pic.twitter.com/bLQ1ERdcNU
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) July 10, 2017
Trump’s statement was released in tandem with statements penned by other administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Statement by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the Liberation of Mosul, #Iraq → https://t.co/Y0zNVT7gR0 pic.twitter.com/fYcPiHOnNS
— Department of State (@StateDept) July 10, 2017
Heartfelt congratulations to Iraqi forces, PM Abadi, Peshmerga, and the people of #Iraq on victory over #ISIS terrorists in #Mosul. #الموصل pic.twitter.com/VOxevsmupD
— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) July 10, 2017
As a gesture of goodwill toward the Iraqi government, the U.S. Department of State pledged to give $150 million to rebuild Mosul. Given the profound level of destruction the city has endured over the course of a nine-month long battle that cost the lives of well over 700 Iraqi troops and hundreds of civilians, Mosul will need all the help it can get as it embarks on a long road to recovery.
The U.S. announced its intent to provide additional $150 million to @UNDP to help stabilize #Iraq after liberation of areas held by ISIS. pic.twitter.com/4p3t5rm1j1
— Department of State (@StateDept) July 6, 2017