H.R. McMaster reportedly called Trump out for asking about taking Iraq's oil

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

US President Donald Trump greets Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017.

• President Donald Trump has criticized the wisdom and expense of US military operations overseas.
• As compensation, Trump has repeatedly suggested taking natural resources from the countries where US troops have been deployed.
• The idea has been rejected by both US and foreign officials.

President Donald Trump has more than once expressed interest in being reimbursed for US military operations by the countries where those operations take place, and his focus on the issue reportedly earned him a rebuke from former national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

According to a report by Axios, during a summer 2017 phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi, Trump brought up the subject of taking Iraqi oil as compensation for US expenditures in the country, which the US invaded in 2003 and has been present in ever since.

Trump previously mentioned the idea during the presidential campaign, saying the US should "take the oil," and he reportedly broached it again during a March 2017 meeting with al Abadi at the White House.

Al Abadi politely rebuffed Trump's inquiry during the March meeting, a source who was in the room told Axios. Trump mentioned it again during a phone call in summer 2017, which earned him reproach from McMaster.

Thomson Reuters

National-security adviser H.R. McMaster in the White House briefing room. May 16, 2017.

"We can't do this and you shouldn't talk about it. Because talking about it is just bad," a source with direct knowledge of the exchange described McMaster as saying.

"It's bad for America's reputation, it'll spook allies, it scares everybody," the source described McMaster as saying. The source, who was not exactly sure of the phrasing, said McMaster argued the requests could've made the US look like "criminals and thieves" - saying, "that was the point [McMaster] was trying to get across."

"You won't be able to do it anyway and you'll harm our reputation and your own reputation just from talking about it," the source recounted McMaster saying.

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McMaster, whose relationship with Trump was tumultuous, left the White House in early 2018.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who commanded Marines during the first Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, said in February 2017 that the US was not in Iraq "to seize anybody's oil."

Trump mentioned the idea publicly in September 2017. "You're not stealing anything," Trump said at the time. "We're reimbursing ourselves."

Those comments drew rebukes from many sides, including from Iraqis and their government.

1st Lt. Leland White/US Army National Guard

US soldiers deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve await aerial extraction during an exercise in Iraq.

Trump has questioned the wisdom of US military operations overseas - he referred to the war in Iraq and the subsequent reconstruction effort as "crooked as hell" - but has remained committed to them, in some cases increasing their intensity.

In Afghanistan, where Trump increased the number of US personnel after taking office, the president has also suggested recompense with the country's mineral resources.

While Afghan officials have not been as averse to the idea as Iraqi officials, pervasive insecurity in the country has prevented any kind of extraction effort.

Trump's criticism has extended to Iraqi officials. According to a former US official, after the March 2017 meeting at the White House, Trump jokingly referred to them as "the most accomplished group of thieves he'd ever met."

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