Celebrated under Biden, now a National Security Threat

Under Trump, now on the Terror Watchlist and barred from the U.S.

Biden administration honored Iraqi finance minister later placed on U.S. terror watchlist and stripped of visa

The Biden administration once celebrated former Iraqi Finance Minister Taif Sami Mohammed as a champion of anti-corruption, but she has now been placed on the U.S. terror watchlist and barred from the country, a reversal critics say exposes dangerous lapses in White House vetting.

Taif Sami Mohammed Al Shakarchi, once hailed by American leaders as a “frontline leader against corrupt practices,” is now at the center of a national security controversy after the State Department revoked her U.S. visa and placed her on the government’s terror watchlist.

Just two years ago, she was honored at the State Department’s International Women of Courage ceremony, where both Jill Biden and Antony Blinken praised her as a model reformer in Iraq.

The State Department confirmed that Mohammed’s visa was revoked “this week,” though it did not release the specific date or publicly detail the evidence behind the watchlist designation.

In a sharply worded statement, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson contrasted the Biden administration’s approach with that of its predecessor, saying, “While the Biden State Department shamefully celebrated and awarded foreigners who threaten our nation, the Trump State Department revokes their visas and ensures these individuals are removed from our country.”

This stunning about-face marks a rare instance where an individual celebrated by top U.S. officials, including the first lady and the secretary of state, was later classified as a national security threat. Breitbart News reported that the 2022 award cited Mohammed’s “purported role in fighting corruption and her advocacy for gender equity.”

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