Amid criticism that Donald Trump didn’t visit troops on Christmas Day, he made an unannounced visit to troops in Iraq the day after the holiday. This is his first time visiting troops overseas since he took office. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted:
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.
Pres and Mrs Trump spent about 3 hours on the ground at Al-Asad Air Base, west of Baghdad. They met with troops in the dining hall and conferred with the US Ambassador and American military commanders. pic.twitter.com/zv9XzhDEoh
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) December 26, 2018
The place Mr. Trump chose to visit is the one theater of war where he has not promised a rapid drawdown of forces — and it is where he claims his greatest military victory, the defeat of the Islamic State in Mosul, the Iraqi city where the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the beginning of its self-proclaimed caliphate. The assault on Mosul by Iraqi forces, backed by Americans, began under President Barack Obama but culminated in the summer of 2017 under Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump, who was accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump, was expected to make two stops on his post-Christmas trip, delivering a holiday message to the more than 5,000 American forces stationed in the country.
.@ABC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT: Pres. Trump makes surprise visit to U.S. troops deployed in Iraq. https://t.co/OC3IwpQSL8 pic.twitter.com/sWQhBKn0UW
— ABC News (@ABC) December 26, 2018
Watch move above.