ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Former US president and Republican candidate Donald Trump is “exceeding expectations” and is likely to win the US presidential election over Kamala Harris with his numbers performing better than the last two voting cycles, a Republican official in Washington said on Tuesday.
“Republicans are now coming out in droves, especially in the seven swing states, to vote early in the elections. I think this will make a tremendous difference in the swing states, and I think President Trump will win the election,” Patrick Mara, head of the Republican Party in Washington DC, told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan.
Mara said that Trump’s numbers are higher than those of 2020 and 2016—the latter of which he won the presidency—and described him as an “unorthodox leader” who will work to get the US out of domestic and international crises.
“Americans are paying much more for products, they’re paying much more for groceries, they’re paying much more for gas to fill up their vehicles, and Americans like to drive cars. They’re paying much more for utilities – energy costs and water costs – and inflation has caused major problems in Americans’ lives and this has all happened under [US President] Joe Biden’s watch,” Mara said.
“Under Joe Biden’s watch, we entered two different wars. During President Trump’s time in office, he worked to get us out of wars,” he added, with Trump being the first US president in over 80 years not to enter into a new conflict.
Mara, who is also one of the 168 voting Members of the Republican National Committee, projects that the Republicans will retake the US Senate from the Democratic Party.
The United States will hold its 2024 election on Tuesday, and the next presidential inauguration is scheduled for January 20, 2025.
Below is the full transcript of the interview.
Rudaw: How likely is it that the republican will win the elections?
I think it's extremely strong. First and foremost, it's very clear that Republicans and even Democrats will concede this, that Republicans will win the United States Senate. It's currently controlled by Democrats, but Republicans will at least have a slim majority in the United States Senate, if not larger. With regard to the presidential campaign, it's obviously it's very close, but we're currently in a situation where I would rather be on the Republican team than on the Democratic team. President Trump is exceeding expectations. If you look at his numbers now, his numbers are much higher than they were in 2020 and much higher than they were in 2016. And you may recall he won the election in 2016. In addition, in 2020, he discouraged folks from voting in early voting and mail ballot voting. This strategy has changed, and Republicans are now coming out in droves, especially in these seven critical swing states, to vote early in these elections. And so, I think this will make a tremendous difference in the swing states, and I think President Trump will win the election.
What is the Republican's main appeal to American voters?
Sure. Well, first and foremost, if you look at what's gone on over the last four years, Americans are paying much more for products. They're paying much more for groceries. They're paying more for gas to fill up their vehicles, and Americans like to drive cars. They're paying much more for utilities, their energy costs, their water costs, all of these things. Inflation has caused major problems in Americans' lives, and this has all happened on Joe Biden's watch. Secondly, under Joe Biden's watch, we've entered two different wars, and during President Trump's time in office, he worked to get us out of wars. And so, in fact, he was the first president in over 80 years, the first American president over 80 years to not go into a war. And so, I think between the economy and peace, these are two of the biggest reasons to vote for President Trump.
In the event of a republican administration in the next four years, how does that reflect in the US policies toward the Middle East?
So President Trump is a little bit different than previous Republicans in my lifetime. For example, if you look at, say, Dick Cheney, who has endorsed Kamala Harris, the Republican has endorsed Kamala Harris. He was arguably the architect to bring the United States into the war in Iraq and into other wars as well. And so President Trump is just very different when it comes to international issues, and he does not want to get Americans into war. He does not want to get American citizens into war. He will put America first, but at the same time, he will honor our agreements with our friends and allies overseas.
President Trump has been criticized as a president who enters deals with authoritarian leaders around the world; in the event of a Trump administration, could this lead to more power to authoritarian leaders around the world?
I think when President Trump is on the campaign trail, oftentimes he speaks in hyperbole. Oftentimes, he speaks in extremes. And this is not, in the end, what he actually means. This gets a lot of American press and news coverage. And he, frankly, controls the media when he does things like this. But at the end of the day, when he is president, his number one goal will be to keep America peaceful and will be to restore the American economy.
During the previous Trump administration, in late 2019, the US withdrew from Western Kurdistan (Rojava) abruptly, leaving the allies alone and the area in a very difficult situation. If Trump wins, will he maintain the same approach toward the Kurds in Rojava (Syria)?
Look, I think in the region, I think he will be extremely sensitive to who our friends are and to who our allies are. And I think he will use that as a measurement. In our policy at this moment, though, in the presidential election, it's just it's very difficult because the primary issues are jobs and the economy. And so he has been admittedly, he has been less focused on discussing foreign policy, other than the facts that he would like to not put us into any new wars. But he has said that he will maintain any alliances we have with friends the other thing is when you look historically, President Trump does like to engage and speak with world leaders I mean, you saw this with, for example with North Korea, extremely unorthodox approach, but he is not an orthodox leader, and he likes to do things differently and to think outside of the box. But just because he does, say, engage with a much more authoritarian leader, that does not necessarily mean that he agrees with that leader.
On the US partnership with the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), will US maintain that partnership in the event of Donald Trump wining?
I think that it's, I would like to say, I think he would, but I cannot speak for him in this instance since he has not really gone into great detail in foreign policy other than He will, any of our allies, our friends overseas, he will look to continue to assist them.
Turning to Iraq, Iraq has been requesting a US withdrawal from the country. There is an agreement for the US to change its mission. How do the Republicans and Trump view that matter?
So at this point in time, you know that, for instance, President Trump was the president who said that we would withdraw from Afghanistan. And he did set a date. But Biden, President Biden, is the one who actually withdrew us from Afghanistan. And this comes up often just due to the loss of life, the loss of American lives, the loss of lives in Afghanistan who were American allies. And so I think any sort of withdrawal of Iraq, they will look at Afghanistan and the mistakes that the Biden administration made during that withdrawal. And so while I think it's likely that American forces are withdrawn from Iraq, maybe some advisors, which isn't the best word to use, but some sort of small force remains there. But I think that any sort of Iraq withdrawal is a big part of that planning process, and that process will be examining, and I'm sure we have Defense Infrastructure who are doing that now, examining what happened in Afghanistan. We do not want to repeat the mistakes of Afghanistan.
And that is something that both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have pretty much worn very poorly, very controversially, in this election.
That is on Iraq. When it comes to Syria and Rojava, will the US withdraw its troops if Donald Trump wins?
I, you know, it's tough to say. I think there would be some sort of a withdrawal, but it's tough to say if all those forces would be withdrawn. Because certainly, you don't want to create a situation that allows for the growth of bad actors in Iraq. like you see in Afghanistan. So it's tougher for me to see at this point that there's a complete withdrawal, but certainly, I could see a reduction in force in Iraq.
The US has its largest embassy in the Kurdistan Region. What will be the US policy toward the Krudistan Region?
To be honest, on that issue, I just would not know, and I don't think that, to be honest, I don't think President Trump would know at this point in time. I think he'd be looking at the broader situation in Iraq, and Americans are still focused on what's happened in Afghanistan.
As Republicans how do you view the Kurdish question and the relations between Erbil and Baghdad, especially, since the Kurdistan Region considers itself a US partner?
Look, I think any good actors, any allies of the United States, those relationships will be continued. Those relationships, I believe, will be supported by President Trump. President Trump is always going to put America first. But I think there is a realization that we need to support our allies, especially in regions that we have gone into previously. And in that case, that we're still there.
Let me ask this, you as the Republican party, how do you view your alliance and partnership with the Kurds?
As a Republican, yeah, I mean, it's, yeah, I mean, I think it's, again, you know, I'll keep going back to this. It's important that we support our friends and allies. It's just that under President Trump, you know, you're not going to see, You just are not going to see Americans, you're not going to see boots on the ground as much as you saw in previous administrations. American boots on the ground. You just wouldn't see that under President Trump unless there were some catastrophic situation.
In that case, in the event of Trump winning, will the US reduce its military presence in the Middle East?
I suspect he would work to do that. But again, it's a matter of him working this through our military, even though he is the commander-in-chief, he will have military advisors explaining why a certain military is necessary to support our friends and allies. And so it's, I think it's going to be a mix. I think he'll take some sort of a victory where he does withdraw some troops. But certainly, especially given what's happened in Afghanistan, you probably need some sort of an American presence or some significant support to our allies to fill the vacuum that's left by the departure of American boots on the ground.
Thank you very much, Patrick Mara, the head of the Republican Party in Washington DC for being with us from Washington DC.
Thank you.
