Removing Iraq from President Donald Trump's original travel ban list was "a good approach," Rep. Michael McCaul told Fox News on Wednesday.
The Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee met with Iraq President Fuad Masum at the Munich Security Conference last week about the ban and said the president "was very worried about this travel ban and what it meant for his country."
"I think Iraq at the end of the day is an ally, we do have an embassy there. I think that could be a positive step," McCaul said.
Masum in early February called on Trump to be "just to people fighting terrorism with the blood of their sons and their resources on behalf of the whole world, including the United States."
CNN reported early Wednesday that top Trump advisers, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, urged the president to remove Iraq from the new travel ban, citing diplomatic reasons.
McCaul said the administration should still "recognize" that ISIS is "still very present in Iraq and Syria."
"But I think in terms of reaching out to an ally where we really need to work together to defeat ISIS, that may be a good approach," he said.
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