Trump Visits Troops In Iraq

[Shabibilicious]

Trump visits U.S. troops in Iraq, his first trip as president to a combat zone

Hunter Walker 

White House Correspondent

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Yahoo News•December 26, 2018

 

 

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet military personnel at the dining facility during an unannounced visit to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq December 26, 2018. (Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

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WASHINGTON—President Trump made a surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday, the first time Trump met with American troops in a combat zone. The visit, which was not announced in advance, came against the backdrop of mounting controversies over Trump’s plans to withdraw forces from the Middle East, the ongoing government shutdown, and an apparently coincidental New York Times article that explored the president’s past avoidance of military service.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced the trip on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.

“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,” Sanders said.

Wire photos showed Trump and First Lady Melania Trump meeting with soldiers and military leaders at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. Trump was joined by national security adviser John Bolton.

Prior to the visit, Trump was facing criticism for breaking with an annual tradition since 2003 of presidents visiting troops deployed abroad around the Christmas holiday.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to U.S. troops in an unannounced visit to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq December 26, 2018. (Photo REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

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Trump spoke to members of all five U.S. military branches via a video conference call on Tuesday. While the president has visited with troops in the U.S. multiple times since he took office, this was his first visit to a combat zone. Both of Trump’s immediate predecessors, President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush, made it a point to see troops fighting overseas early in their terms.

Trump’s trip to Iraq came at a turbulent time for his administration, particularly around military policy. Last week, Trump announced his decision to withdraw from Syria and ordered the Pentagon to draw up plans to pull troops out of Afghanistan. Opponents and military analysts worried that the beneficiaries would be jihadists, Russia, and Iran, which has aggressively sought to expand its influence in the region. The Syria withdrawal, which Trump announced in a tweet with little or no advance notice or consultation with the cabinet, led to the abrupt resignation of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.

Wednesday also marked the fifth day of a government shutdown over a budget dispute between Trump and congressional Democrats.

The president’s visit to Iraq also coincided with a New York Times reportpublished Wednesday that detailed new information suggesting Trump was able to avoid the Vietnam draft as a young man thanks to his father’s connections. The paper reported that the daughters of a deceased podiatrist in New York said their father had given Trump a bone spur diagnosis as a favor to Fred Trump, who owned the building where the doctor had his office.

Trump has previously said he had a legitimate bone spurs diagnosis though he has never provided any documentation.

As with prior presidential trips to war zones, Trump’s Iraq visit was conducted with some secrecy to help ensure his safety. The trip was not announced by the White House, which has not responded to multiple questions from Yahoo News about the visit.

The first indication Trump was visiting with the troops overseas came Wednesday morning as aviation experts noted interesting activity with a mysterious U.S. government plane. The plane, which was not using the standard Air Force One call sign, was tracked flying from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, the typical venue for presidential departures, through the Middle East. Photos showed the aircraft was decked out in the normal presidential livery.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-visits-u-s-troops-iraq-first-trip-president-combat-zone-194927576.html

 

GO RV, then BV

[Butifldrm]

TRUMP CALLS OUT CNN FOR ACCUSING US TROOPS OF MISCONDUCT

7:03 PM 12/27/2018 | MEDIA

Amber Athey | Media and Breaking News Editor

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President Donald Trump lashed out at CNN on Twitter after the news network accused U.S. troops in Iraq of breaking protocol by getting the president to sign memorabilia for them.

The president and first lady Melania Trump secretly left the White House late Christmas evening so that they could meet with troops in Iraq the day after Christmas. During the visit to Al Asad Air Base, Trump signed some “Make America Great Again” hats that service-members brought with them to the event.

CNN published a story Wednesday accusing the troops of breaking military protocol by engaging in “partisan political activities.”

Trump called out CNN for their reporting in a Thursday tweet, writing, “CNN & others within the Fake News Universe were going wild about my signing MAGA hats for our military in Iraq and Germany.”

“If these brave young people ask me to sign their hat, I will sign,” the president continued. “Can you imagine my saying NO? We brought or gave NO hats as the Fake News first reported!”

Donald J. Trump

 

✔@realDonaldTrump

 

 

CNN & others within the Fake News Universe were going wild about my signing MAGA hats for our military in Iraq and Germany. If these brave young people ask me to sign their hat, I will sign. Can you imagine my saying NO? We brought or gave NO hats as the Fake News first reported!

 

127K

5:23 PM - Dec 27, 2018

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Trump has been routinely criticized for his relationship with U.S. military, including in an article by NBC News that prematurely claimed that Trump would be the “first president since 2002 not to visit troops at Christmastime.” Hours after NBC published that article, it was confirmed that the president was, in fact, making the visit to troops. (RELATED: Trump Criticized For Not Visiting Arlington Cemetery On Veterans Day)

NBC added an editor’s note to the article indicating their error but opted not to change the headline or the text of the piece.

https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/27/trump-tweet-cnn-troops-sign-maga-hats-misconduct/

[Shabibilicious]

6 minutes ago, Butifldrm said:

 

 

I've got no problem with the troops seeking autographs, no matter who the POTUS is......Bush, Obama, Trump, etc...  If they're willing to sign stuff who cares?....even the First Ladies for that matter.....Michelle Obama's book, Melania's centerfold....makes no difference to me...the troops earned it.

 

GO RV, then BV

[Shabibilicious]

Retired Gen. Allen says Trump turned troop visit into 'political rally'

Michael Isikoff

Chief Investigative Correspondent

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Yahoo News•December 28, 2018

 

 

 

President Trump, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Allen (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images; Darko Bandic/AP)

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A former top U.S. military commander criticized President Trump for turning his visit to an Iraqi air base into a “political rally” that improperly used U.S. troops for partisan purposes.

“We didn’t need a political rally,” said retired Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, who served as President Barack Obama’s special envoy to the coalition against the Islamic State terror group, during an interview for  the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery.” Allen, a former deputy and acting chief of the U.S. Central Command, added that while Obama and President George W. Bush were “very quick to visit the troops” and “spoke about the troops all the time,” Trump’s first visit to see U.S. soldiers as president had been a “long time coming.”

But, he hastily added, “We need the troops to be motivated by the president of the United States, their commander in chief, and not find themselves being drawn into cheering over political statements about whether the Democrats did do something or not do something, or whether he was getting funding for something or not getting funding for something.”

In his comments, Allen joined other former U.S. military officers who have criticized Trump’s day-after-Christmas visit to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq.  During the trip, Trump signed “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hats and a “Trump 2020″ patch, and then condemned Democrats for failing to provide funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. “The Democrats don’t want to let us have strong borders,” he said. The president also claimed that he had gotten the troops a 10 percent pay raise — far more than 2.6 percent they actually got — and falsely said it was the first raise they had gotten in 10 years. In fact, U.S. military troops have gotten a raise every year for the past decade.

Download or subscribe on iTunes: “Skullduggery” from Yahoo News

Trump defended his conduct in a tweet and denounced the media reports about his visit as “Fake News” for initially suggesting that he had distributed the MAGA hats he signed for the troops.

“If these brave young people ask me to sign their hat, I will sign,” he wrote. “Can you imagine my saying NO? We brought or gave NO hats as the Fake News first reported.”

Donald J. Trump

 

✔@realDonaldTrump

 

 

CNN & others within the Fake News Universe were going wild about my signing MAGA hats for our military in Iraq and Germany. If these brave young people ask me to sign their hat, I will sign. Can you imagine my saying NO? We brought or gave NO hats as the Fake News first reported!

 

147K

6:23 PM - Dec 27, 2018

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But Allen, who once served as a top commander at the same Iraqi air base during the Iraq War, said Trump’s conduct during the visit violated understandings basic to civilian control of the military.

“Our military is the greatest military on the planet because of civilian control over the military, and inherent in that is that the civilian control will not politicize our military,” Allen said. “Come to  theater; tell [the troops] how brave they are. And share their danger and tell them they’ve done so much to protect their country.

“Don’t come to the war zone and attempt to politicize the troops by drawing them into a political rally.”

Allen also sharply criticized Trump’s decision to abruptly pull 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, saying they had played a vital role in rolling back in the Islamic State group — gains that could be reversed once they leave, threatening Kurdish allies and the liberated population.

U.S. troops “should be there because the situation demands it,” he said. “I fear, frankly, for their survival if we pull out too fast.” Asked whose survival was at stake, he replied: Local U.S. allies and “the population that was just liberated. I fear for them if we depart too quickly.”

 

https://news.yahoo.com/retired-gen-allen-criticizes-trump-turning-troop-visit-political-rally-141320082.html

 

I wouldn't put it past Trump to actually think that only Republicans join the United States Military.  If somebody informed him that heroic Muslims, Atheists, LGBTQ, etc., etc. are among our U.S. Military ranks, his orange mane would probably spontaneously combust.  

 

GO RV, then BV

[MyLadiesDaddy]

Every dang speech Obuthead gave was a political rally. Oh, but that's okay it was your leader then right?

[MyLadiesDaddy]

How can anyone hate on this?

 

 

[Shabibilicious]

21 minutes ago, ladyGrace'sDaddy said:

How can anyone hate on this?

 

 

 

I don't have one bad word to say about that video....any positive boost to our military brethren's morale is a good thing.  

 

GO RV, then BV