The President and the First Lady made a top-secret visit to the war-zone on December 26.
Just three days since he made a bizarre “I am all alone” rant on Twitter, and just two days since he most likely completely ruined Christmas for a young child, Trump and his wife made an unannounced trip to Iraq.
Under fire for not spending any time on the front line with troops in the two years since becoming President, and still defending his decision to remove troops from Syria, Trump made the surprise visit with Melania, as well as national security adviser, John Bolton.
According to The Guardian, Trump was asked if he had concerns about making the trip to Iraq, to which he replied:
“I had concerns about the institution of the presidency. Not for myself personally. 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. I’ve been on many airplanes. All types and shapes and sizes.
“So did I have a concern? Yes, I had a concern.”
While there, Trump spent a little over three hours at an air base, but did not visit Baghdad, while a scheduled in-person meeting with Iraq’s prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, was cancelled.
Trump posted a video to Twitter, posing with soldiers and signing autographs:
.@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
When asked by reporters why he was removing soldiers from Syria, Trump responded:
“In Syria, [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan said he wants to knock out Isis, whatever’s left, the remnants of Isis. And Saudi Arabia just came out and said they are going to pay for some economic development. Which is great, that means we don’t have to pay.
“We are spread out all over the world. We are in countries most people haven’t even heard about. Frankly, it’s ridiculous.”
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