President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed the final departure of American troops from Iraq as a victory for both nations, declaring that the United States had reached the end of its military mission against ISIS in the country.
“It’s a victory for the United States, it’s a victory for Iraq and a decisive victory over ISIS, which has been completely decimated,” Trump said at a Hispanic Heritage Month event at the White House, according to The Hill.
His remarks followed U.S. Central Command’s announcement that American forces and equipment had departed Erbil Air Base, formally ending the Iraq mission of Operation Inherent Resolve. The withdrawal closes a 12-year campaign launched after ISIS swept across large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Trump Says It Was Time to Go Home
Before the White House event, Trump used Truth Social to explain his decision to complete the withdrawal.
“I had a choice to stay or to leave, and felt, without question, that it was time for America to go home!” he wrote, according to The Hill.
The president also expressed support for Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who took office in May and met with Trump at the White House in July, The Hill reported.
The departure fulfills a withdrawal framework agreed to by Washington and Baghdad in 2024 under the Biden administration and implemented through Trump’s second term. It shifts the relationship toward direct security cooperation between the two countries.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the conclusion of the mission was consistent with that agreement and U.S. national interests. In his statement, Parnell emphasized Washington’s support for a sovereign Iraq capable of securing its borders and protecting its people.
Iraq Mission Ends as Regional Operations Continue
The end of the Iraq deployment does not end the broader counter-ISIS campaign.
CENTCOM said Combined Joint Task Force–Operation Inherent Resolve remains active and is now headquartered in Jordan. U.S. forces will continue the counter-ISIS mission in Syria alongside coalition partners and the Syrian government. t
CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said Iraqi security forces, including the Kurdish Peshmerga, now have the capacity and operational independence to address threats themselves.
“Job well done to the tens of thousands of American service members, diplomats, and civilian personnel who answered the call in Iraq,” Cooper said.
He also made clear that forces stationed elsewhere in the region remain prepared to respond if ISIS threatens again.
The withdrawal comes 23 years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. American troops previously left Iraq in 2011 before returning in 2014 at Baghdad’s request to help fight ISIS.
