An Iraqi armed group calling itself the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” issued a startling announcement on Thursday, offering a $10 million bounty to anyone who assassinates US President Donald Trump. The group stated that the reward would be paid regardless of who carries out the act — whether an individual, a group, or an organization — and that the funds had been raised through donations from its members and supporters. The group said its decision stemmed from Trump’s boasting about his role in the killings of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces.
The controversy traces back to a recent meeting at the White House, where Trump, speaking with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, referenced his role in the killings of Soleimani and al-Muhandis. Responding to the remarks, al-Zaidi said he had not been active in politics at the time the incident occurred.
Meanwhile, the family of al-Muhandis reacted with sharp anger to Trump’s comments, describing them as a reflection of his own fear. They also criticized the Iraqi prime minister’s response during the White House meeting, accusing him of failing to adequately push back.
“Those who distance themselves from their nation’s honorable past lose their roots. Those whose past is built on lies are not fit to lead the future,” the al-Muhandis family said in a strongly worded statement, escalating the war of words surrounding the incident.
The episode adds a volatile new dimension to already tense US-Iraq relations, with the bounty announcement raising fresh security concerns even as officials in Washington and Baghdad have yet to issue formal responses to the threat.