WASHINGTON, United States: Quoting officials who recently attended a private meeting with the American President at the Pentagon, The New York Times reported US President George W. Bush is frustrated by the slow progress in Iraq and lack of public support for the American military there.

The officials said that Bush seemed concerned about the effectiveness of Iraq’s new Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, adding that he avoided expressing his own view of the Iraqi leader.

"I sensed a frustration with the lack of progress on the bigger picture of Iraq generally -- that we continue to lose a lot of lives, it continues to sap our budget," said one person who attended the meeting.

The cost of the Iraq War is estimated to top a trillion dollars, and the US death toll hit 2,500.

President Bush also expressed disappointment at the lack of public support for the US military in Iraq, another source said, adding that the American President was especially irritated by a recent anti-American and pro-Hezbollah rally in Baghdad that drew a large crowd.

The White House refused to comment on the meeting, which The Times said included Bush’s war cabinet and several outside experts.