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Donald and Melania Trump see US troops in Iraq in Christmas trip | Donald and Melania Trump see US troops in Iraq in Christmas trip |
(35 minutes later) | |
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have made an unannounced Christmas visit to US troops in Iraq. | US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have made an unannounced Christmas visit to US troops in Iraq. |
They travelled there "late on Christmas night" to thank troops for "their service, their success and their sacrifice", the White House said. | They travelled there "late on Christmas night" to thank troops for "their service, their success and their sacrifice", the White House said. |
Mr Trump said the US had no plans to pull out of Iraq, Reuters reports. | Mr Trump said the US had no plans to pull out of Iraq, Reuters reports. |
The trip came days after Defence Secretary Jim Mattis quit over divisions about strategy in the region. | |
The US still has some 5,000 troops in Iraq to support the government in its fight against what remains of the Islamic State (IS) group. | |
What happened during Trump's visit? | |
Mr Trump, his wife and National Security Adviser John Bolton travelled on Air Force One to al-Asad airbase, west of the capital Baghdad, to meet military personnel in the base's restaurant. | |
He spent about three hours at the base in what is his first visit to the region. | |
During the visit he got a standing ovation from troops as he entered a dining hall and walked around greeting them, posing for selfies with them and signing autographs. | |
Mr Trump had planned to spend Christmas at his private golf club in Florida, but stayed behind in Washington because of the current partial government shutdown. | |
What did Trump say? | |
"We're no longer the suckers, folks," he told American servicemen and women at the base. "We're respected again as a nation." | |
Mr Trump said the US could use Iraq as a forward base if "we wanted to do something in Syria", Reuters news agency reports. | Mr Trump said the US could use Iraq as a forward base if "we wanted to do something in Syria", Reuters news agency reports. |
He defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria during the visit, saying: "A lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking. | |
"I made it clear from the beginning that our mission in Syria was to strip Isis [another name for IS] of its military strongholds. | |
"Eight years ago, we went there for three months and we never left. Now, we're doing it right and we're going to finish it off." | |
He also said security considerations had prevented him from visiting US troops in the region several weeks ago. | |
Why is withdrawing from Syria controversial? | |
Mr Trump announced the decision to pull US troops out of Syria last week. | |
However, important allies including senior Republicans and foreign powers have disputed the claim that IS is defeated in Syria and say the US withdrawal could lead to a resurgence. | |
In his resignation letter, General Mattis said he did not share Mr Trump's views. | |
One of the top US diplomats in the fight against IS, Brett McGurk, also resigned early. He reportedly described Mr Trump's decision as a "reversal of policy" that "left our coalition partners confused and our fighting partners bewildered". | |
A Kurdish-led alliance, the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), has also warned that IS could recover. | |
US troops have helped rid much of Syria's north-east of the jihadist group, but pockets of fighters remain. |