Behind the scenes: Trump administration officials have warned senior Iraqi officials that Iraq would suffer dangerous consequences if the U.S. withdrew its military and its funding of the Iraqi security apparatus, according to sources familiar with the outreach.

On the other hand, Trump has also told advisers he thinks it’s ridiculous that America has been paying billions of dollars to support an Iraqi security apparatus that, in his view, is demonstrably incompetent, disloyal to America and close to Iran.

“For the president’s position, he has been very clear about that, and he’s not alone in that thinking,” said a U.S. official. “In terms of developing policy options for him [the president], that’s something we review constantly. What is our assistance to Iraq going to fund?”

In the meantime, Trump has sent thousands of troops to the Middle East to counter Iran.