President Trump Surprises Troops In Iraq With A Visit

Daily Mail: 'We are no longer the suckers': Donald Trump makes surprise visit to Iraq with Melania where he declares ISIS 'very nearly defeated' and says America is 'respected' again after being slammed for pulling forces from Syria and avoiding a war zone

* White House said in a statement that the Trumps secretly traveled to Iraq yesterday evening, on Christmas, to wish service men and women a happy holiday
* Trump was in the country for roughly three hours before the White House confirmed his whereabouts
* Had been suspected that he was not at the White House after his Twitter went dark and the marine that stands guard outside the West Wing when he's in the Oval Office wasn't on guard
* Visited Al Asad Airbase in western Iraq, roughly 185 kilometers outside of Syria on Dec. 26 with Melania
* It was their first visit to a war zone since the sitting president took office nearly two years ago
* Trump announced last week that he's pulling American troops out of neighboring Syria, because the U.S. had 'defeated ISIS' in the nation that's also mired in a civil war
* He said in Iraq that the terror group had been 'very nearly defeated' altogether and Turkey and other regional powers will finish the job. 'We've knocked them out. We’ve knocked them silly,' he asserted
* Said he will keep forces in Iraq: 'If we see something happening with ISIS that we don’t like, we can hit them so fast and so hard they really won’t know what the hell happened'

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump made a surprise visit to Iraq on Wednesday — their first visit to a war zone since the sitting president took office nearly two years ago.

They left from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland shortly after midnight with a small group of journalists and aides in tow. Trump was in the country for roughly three hours before the White House confirmed his whereabouts.

The president delivered a speech to the rank and file at Al Asad Airbase, took selfies with the troops and met with military leaders in Iraq.

'I want to come and pay my respects most importantly to the great soldiers,' he said of the visit. 'Great troopers we have here.'

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WNU Editor: And I was about to write a post tonight on why President Trump should make the effort to personally visit soldiers during the holidays.

More News On President Trump's Surprised Visit To Iraq

In a first, Trump makes surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq -- Reuters
Trump makes first visit to US troops in harm’s way -- AP
'We're no longer the suckers': Trump to US troops during first visit to combat zone -- ABC News
Trump, visiting troops in Iraq, defends Syria pullout plan -- FOX News
Donald and Melania Trump visit US troops in Iraq in Christmas trip -- BBC
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump make surprise visit to Iraq -- CNN
Trump makes unannounced Iraq visit -- The Hill
Trump makes unannounced visit to US troops in Iraq -- The Guardian
President Donald Trump pays unannounced visit to US troops in Iraq -- DW
Donald Trump makes his first visit to US troops in Iraq amid planned withdrawal in Syria -- ABC News Online
No pullout of Iraq, it can be base ‘to do something in Syria’ – Trump on first visit to troops -- RT
Donald and Melania Trump make surprise visit to US troops in Iraq -- NYPost
Trump defends Syria pull-out during surprise visit to Iraq -- Al Jazeera