Trump, first lady in Iraq for surprise visit with troops
Trump, first lady in Iraq for surprise visit with troops
President Trump and the first lady appeared in Iraq Wednesday for a surprise visit with troops and senior military leadership.
The president arrived for the unannounced visit to Al Asad Air Base, where he was joined by National Security Adviser John Bolton for meetings with political and military leaders.
"President Trump and the First Lady traveled to Iraq late on Christmas night to visit with our troops and Senior Military leadership to thank them for their service, their success, and their sacrifice and to wish them a Merry Christmas," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Twitter.
Trump's surprise visit to the region came a week after he declared the Islamic State terror network “defeated” in Syria in a tweet and ordered all American diplomats and soldiers out of the country.
The U.S. first deployed troops to Syria in 2015 during the Obama administration as part of a partnership with Kurdish-led forces against ISIS. A year before the deployment, U.S. airstrikes also began in Syria.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis signed orders on Sunday to pull all American troops out of Syria in the coming weeks, a senior defense official told Fox News. Pentagon officials at the time refused to discuss specifics including the timeline citing operational security for the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria.
TRUMP LAMENTS MEDIA FOCUS ON PULLOUTS FROM 'NEVER ENDING WARS' IN SYRIA, AFGHANISTAN
Last month, Trump hinted that he would soon visit troops deployed in a war zone.
In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Trump was asked by host Chris Wallace why he hadn't visited the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in the two years he's served as commander in chief.
"Well, I think you will see that happen," the president said after Wallace noted that Obama and former President George W. Bush had each visited soldiers in war zones. "There are things that are being planned. We don’t want to talk about it because of -- obviously because of security reasons and everything else."
The president previously drew criticism for his decision not to visit Arlington National Cemetery to mark Veterans Day, following his trip to Europe. He said later he "should have" visited the cemetery but was too busy with official business.
Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson, Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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