President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Wednesday, leaving behind a partially shuttered U.S. government to greet American troops helping hold off extremists in a country where thousands of Americans died during the recent war.
Trump’s trip was shrouded in secrecy. Air Force One flew overnight from Washington, landing at an airbase west of Baghdad under the cover of darkness Wednesday evening. It is his first visit with troops stationed in a troubled region.
Trump defended his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria where they have been helping battle ISIS militants.
“We’re no longer the suckers, folks,” Trump told American servicemen and women at a base in western Iraq. “We’re respected again as a nation.”
JUST IN: President Trump and the First Lady traveled to Iraq late on Christmas night to visit with troops and Senior Military leadership “to thank them for their service, their success, and their sacrifice and to wish them a Merry Christmas” – Press Sec. pic.twitter.com/N101Xlx5dZ
— Breaking911 (@breaking9111) December 26, 2018
Trump said it’s because of U.S. military gains that he can withdraw 2,000 forces from Syria. During his first visit to a troubled region, Trump also said he has no plans to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.
“I made it clear from the beginning that our mission in Syria was to strip ISIS of its military strongholds,” Trump told troops clad in fatigues at al-Asad Airbase west of Baghdad.
“Eight years ago, we went there for three months and we never left,” he said. “Now, we’re doing it right and we’re going to finish it off.”
He said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to take out “any remnants” of IS left in Syria. The U.S. presence in Syria was not meant to be “open-ended,” he said, adding that other wealthy nations should pay for rebuilding Syria.
“The nations of the region must step up and take more responsibility for their future,” said Trump, who said there would be a “strong, deliberate and orderly withdrawal” of U.S. forces from Syria.
Trump’s trip to Iraq came a week after he stunned his national security advisers by announcing the U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria.
Fifteen years after the 2003 invasion, the U.S. still has more than 5,000 troops in Iraq supporting the government as it continues the fight against remaining pockets of resistance by the Islamic State group. IS has lost a significant amount of territory in Iraq and Syria but is still seen as a threat.
Trump, who speaks often about his support for the U.S. military, had faced criticism for not yet visiting U.S. troops stationed in harm’s way as he comes up on his two-year mark in office. He told The Associated Press in an interview in October that he “will do that at some point, but I don’t think it’s overly necessary.” He later began to signal that such a troop visit was in the offing.
Air Force One spotted over England just a few hours ago under different callsign, left Andrews at midnight. pic.twitter.com/7kRin3NYmQ
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) December 26, 2018
Trump had planned to spend Christmas at his private club in Florida, but stayed behind in Washington due to the shutdown. It’s unclear whether his trip to Iraq was added after it became apparent that the government would be shut down indefinitely due to a stalemate between Trump and congressional Democrats over the president’s demand for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Adding to the tumult, the stock market has been experiencing heavy losses over concerns about a slowing global economy, Trump’s trade war with China and the president’s public slamming of the Federal Reserve and its chairman over interest rate hikes by the independent agency.
Trump’s visit comes at a time when his Middle East policy is in flux. He went against the views of his top national security advisers in announcing the Syria withdrawal, a decision that risks creating a vacuum for extremists to thrive.
DEVELOPING: President Trump now en route to a second unannounced location – https://t.co/4Heuu3kE6z
— Breaking911 (@breaking9111) December 26, 2018
There are dire implications in particular for neighboring Iraq. The Iraqi government now has control of all the country’s cities, towns and villages after fighting its last urban battles against IS in December 2017. But its political, military and economic situation remains uncertain, and the country continues to experience sporadic bombings, kidnappings and assassinations, which most people attribute to IS.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi recently said Iraqi troops could deploy into Syria to protect Iraq from threats across its borders. Iraq keeps reinforcements along its frontier to guard against infiltration by IS militants, who hold a pocket of territory along the Euphrates River.
.@FLOTUS Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.! pic.twitter.com/rDlhITDvm1
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2018
Trump campaigned for office on a platform of ending U.S. involvement in foreign trouble spots, such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Syria decision will ultimately affect all of the approximately 2,000 troops deployed in the war-torn country. The Pentagon is also said to be developing plans to withdraw up to half of the 14,000 American troops still serving in Afghanistan.
During the presidential campaign, Trump blamed Democrat Hillary Clinton for the rise of IS, due to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq at the end of 2011 during her tenure as secretary of state.
President George W. Bush is the one who set the 2011 withdrawal date as part of an agreement with the Iraqi government to gradually shrink the U.S. footprint and slowly hand off security responsibilities to the government and Iraqi security forces.
President @realDonaldTrump speaks to U.S. troops in Iraq. #TrumpTroopsVisit #USA pic.twitter.com/9CSdO8AwWD
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 26, 2018
His successor, President Barack Obama, wanted to leave a residual force in Iraq to help the government manage ongoing security challenges. But he ultimately went ahead with the scheduled pullout in 2011 after Iraqi’s political leaders rejected terms the U.S. sought for legal protections for the U.S. troops that would have remained.
Two of Trump’s recent predecessors visited Iraq early in their terms.
Bush visited Iraq in November 2003, about eight months after that conflict began. Due to security concerns, Bush waited until 2006 to make his first visit to Afghanistan.
Obama visited Iraq in April 2009, the first year of his eight years in office, as part of an overseas tour. He visited Afghanistan in 2010.
Vice President Mike Pence visited Afghanistan in December 2017, not long after Trump outlined a strategy to break the stalemate in America’s longest war. Pence met with Afghan leaders and visited with U.S. troops stationed in the country. Trump has not visited Afghanistan.
Trump on unannounced Iraq visit: “I had concerns for the institution of the Presidency”
“…The darkened plane with all windows closed with no lights on whatsoever — anywhere. Pitch black. I’ve been on many airplanes. All types and shapes and sizes.”pic.twitter.com/6DIyxHkvuV
— Breaking911 (@breaking9111) December 26, 2018
Behind the scenes as President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania arrive at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. #TrumpTroopsVisit pic.twitter.com/Sv6pZnjRDz
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@Scavino45) December 26, 2018
Powerful moment – Member of United States Army told the President he came back into the military because of him. And President Trump responded, “And I am here because of you.” I met him after and he gave me the patch from his arm. Incredible. #TrumpTroopsVisit pic.twitter.com/WmQf3b2K8X
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 26, 2018
🚨MOMENTS AGO: President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania visiting troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq… pic.twitter.com/ZUPNZdbJ6w
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@Scavino45) December 26, 2018
(AP)
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8 Responses
Do democrats do this?
It’s interesting how social media has somewhat compromised and preempted OPSEC. There are some serious lessons to be learned here..
Well, about time. No bone spur problems? No golf on the schedule? No adultery?
POTUS and FLOTUS just left Al Basra AB on AF-1. Destination unknown at this time.
1 all presidents do this.
YESHIVA WORLD WHY DO YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF MELANIA TRUMP WHO LOOKS ATTRACTIVE IN THIS PICTURE? EVEN IF IT IS JUST A HEADSHOT YOUR BEING MACHSHIL THE RABIM BEFRAT THAT MOST PEOPLE ACCESSING YOUR SIGHTS HAVE FILTERS OTHERWISE WHY WOULD ANYONE BOTHER GOING ON YOUR SIGHT ANYWAY? IT TAKES FOREVER TO LOAD AND THERE ARE MORE SCHNORERS ADVERTISING THEN SHOMER SHABBOS !
To rt: Nebbach, you poor snowflake with terminal Trump Derangement Syndrome. Nothing the President does satisfies you. Go back to your safe room and crayons and scream at the sky.
The above is Fake News.
I read REAL news from NBC today:
“Trump becomes first president since 2002 not to visit troops at Christmastime,”
“Though he called military personnel on Tuesday, Trump did not visit a hospital or a military base.”
“On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump took part in a long-running practice of presidents who called troops stationed around the country and the world. But he broke from a recent tradition of actually visiting troops and wounded warriors. He did so in 2017, when he visited wounded troops at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 21 (and invited Coast Guard service members to play golf at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida).
By staying home on Tuesday, Trump became the first president since 2002 who didn’t visit military personnel around Christmastime.”:
From NBC News article from reporter Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner.