UPDATE - Trump: US pullout 'worst thing’ to occur to Iraq

ADDS MORE QUOTES FROM TRUMP

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday the country will not be withdrawing from Iraq amid controversy about a letter.

The U.S. will get out of Iraq, but it is not the right time, said Trump while hosting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Oval Office, noting that Washington wanted to be reimbursed for the cost of U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

"I didn't want to be there in the first place to be honest and everybody knows that. That was when I was a civilian I said it, but we were there and they made a decision and I disagreed with that decision very strongly.

"But we're there now we've done a great job. We've gotten rid of the caliphate. 100% of the caliphate is gone, which is ISIS," Trump said.

"It's the worst thing that could happen to Iraq," Trump said of U.S. troop withdrawal without providing evidence. Suggestions of a withdrawal hit headlines after an U.S. airstrike killed an Iranian top general last week.

"If we leave that would mean that Iran would have a much bigger foothold, and the people in Iraq do not want to see Iran running the country," the president added.

The letter from Marine Corps Gen. William Seely, who oversees Iraq operations, was circulated on social media and drew quick rejection from U.S. military leadership.

Seely wrote to Deputy Director of Iraq's Joint Operations Command Abdul Amir notifying him that the U.S.-led coalition "will be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement."

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley called the letter a "mistake" that should never have been released.

Speaking at Pentagon on Monday, Milley said the letter was "poorly worded" and "implies withdrawal" which he said was not happening.

Iraq’s parliament voted Sunday in favor of expelling U.S. troops after a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad targeted and killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force.

Following the vote, Trump said Washington has spent a lot of money in Iraq for an "expensive base" that cost billions of dollars to build.

"We're not leaving unless they pay us back for it," said Trump on his way to Washington from Florida.