I'm John Batser with my colleague, Hussain Abdel-Hassain, of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy.

He's writing to the national interest of the new Iraqi government.

I did not know there was one until the name Zahidi comes up, Al-Zadi,

who I learn now represents the Shia bloc, but is a newbie entirely, never a politician before.

The question here is what happened from the days where it was routine for a president of the

United States to visit in Baghdad and talk with the leadership. I remember Barack Obama

being there. I remember George Bush being there. I do not remember Joe Biden

going over during his presidency, nor do I think of any attention whatsoever from Donald Trump.

So is something profound happened, the relationship between Washington and Baghdad, or does the

relationship continue just not at the presidential

level?

Well, one of the main reasons why Maliki could not get his premiership within the Shia block

is because President Trump tweeted that the United States does not accept him to come back.

And this threw him off even though until that point, he looked like the frontrunner of the Shia.

The Shia looked as if they had all converged on Maliki.

So we are still involved, thankfully.

We are still the Iraqis strongest and best ally.

So they defer to us on so many issues, even if the Iranians try to influence on the street

through the militias and their protegees.

But we are still a bigger player.

We are still the biggest player in Iraq in terms of politics and policy.

And like I said, when President Trump said, no Maliki in a tweet, Maliki was gone. So even though

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