President Trump, First Lady Visit With US Troops in Iraq on Christmas

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump traveled to Iraq for an unannounced visit with American troops for Christmas.

The trip wasn’t made public until after they landed.

“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 in a statement.

She shared a picture of the president and first lady posing with troops.

“FLOTUS and POTUS have made a surprise visit to our brave U.S. service members currently deployed in Iraq. Thank you to all who serve!!!” Stephanie Grisham, spokeswoman for the first lady, added on Twitter.

It’s Trump’s first visit to troops serving abroad.

He was spending the holidays at the White House after a planned family trip to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida carried on without him as the government shut down. The first lady returned to Washington from Florida on Dec. 24.

Trump insisted that federal appropriations needed to avoid a shutdown must include $5 billion for the border wall, one of his signature campaign promises, but Democrats have fought against the funding. With neither side giving in, the shutdown that affects approximately 25 percent of the government started.

Secret Visit

Trump’s predecessors, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, also made surprise trips to visit the troops. For security reasons, the visits are usually kept secret until after the president arrives.

Trump said his main security concern was for the first lady and related how Air Force One took special precautions when landing in Iraq.

“I had concerns for the first lady, I will tell you. But if you would have seen what we had to go through in the darkened plane with all windows closed with no light anywhere. Pitch black,” he said. “So did I have a concern? Yes, I had a concern.”

While in Iraq, Trump spoke to military commanders and the U.S. ambassador and, according to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, they “came up with a powerful plan that will allow us to continue our path to total victory” over the ISIS terrorist group.

The Trumps posed for pictures at Al Asad Air Base on Dec. 26 during the unannounced visit. National security adviser John Bolton joined the president and first lady on the trip.

The United States has more than 5,000 troops in the country.

Trump said earlier this year that he’s been busy, when asked why he hadn’t visited troops serving abroad as of yet.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by national security adviser John Bolton, third from left, first lady Melania Trump, fourth from right, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Doug Silliman, third from right, and senior military leadership, speaks to members of the media at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, on Dec. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

“I will do that at some point, but I don’t think it’s overly necessary. I’ve been very busy with everything that’s taking place here. We have the greatest economy in the history of our country. I mean, this is the greatest economy we’ve ever had, best unemployment numbers,” he told the Associated Press.

“I’m doing a lot of things. But it’s something I’d do. And do gladly. Nobody has been better at the military. Hey, I just got them a pay raise. I haven’t had a pay raise in 11 years. I just got them a substantial pay raise. ‘They’ meaning our military people. I just got them new equipment. They have stuff that was so old that their grandfathers used to fly it. I have done more for the military than any president in many, many years.”

President Donald Trump visits with members of the military at a dining hall at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq on Dec. 26, 2018. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Following through on another campaign promise, Trump announced just before Christmas that he would withdraw U.S. troops posted in Syria, saying that, after touting the defeat of ISIS, it’s time to let U.S. allies take over in the war-torn country.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Dec. 19.

“These victories over ISIS in Syria do not signal the end of the Global Coalition or its campaign,” Sanders added in a statement. “We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign.”

From NTD News. Reuters and The Epoch Times reporter Petr Svab contributed to this report.