Iraq's parliament vote last week to force foreign troops to leave the country has led the Trump administration to warn that would cost the country billions, if not everything.
The country's central bank account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is under U.S. control, according to President Donald Trump.
"I said, 'if we leave you've got to pay us,'" Trump told host Laura Ingraham on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" on Friday. "If we leave you have to pay for embassies. You have to pay us for the money we put in."
Ingraham asked, "how are you going to collect."
"Well, we have a lot of their money right now," Trump responded. "We have $35 billion of their money right now, sitting in an account. And I think they'll agree to pay, otherwise, we'll stay there."
The Trump administration warned Iraq this week they will withhold funds from Iraq, taking not only all of the U.S. defense for their country out but holding the account – effectively putting their entire economy at risk, too, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Trump administration has made it a priority to press the rest of the world to pay up in advance for defense, and in the case of Iraq, Trump will want them to pay in arrears.
"We built one of the world's most expensive airport facilities anywhere in the world," Trump said of Iraqi military bases attacked by Iran this week. "I mean, I wish we had it in New York. I wish we had it in Washington. We build runways that are 15,000 feet long. At LaGuardia, they're 7,000 feet long. In fact, I think they're 20,000 feet long over there, and deep thick concrete and steal.
"Nobody ever built runways like this. OK, it's way overbuilt, but that's OK."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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