U.S. troops in Afghanistan received a surprise visit from President Donald Trump on Thanksgiving.
The commander-in-chief served turkey to soldiers at Bagram Air Field and thanked the armed forces in a speech. In the span of some three hours, Trump also met with Afghanistan’s president and discussed resuming peace talks with the Taliban.
“There’s nowhere I’d rather spend Thanksgiving than with the toughest, fiercest warriors,” Trump told the troops. “I’m here to say Happy Thanksgiving and thank you very much. As president of the United States, I have no higher honor than serving as commander in chief.”
Trump surprises troops on Thanksgiving
Trump arrived at the airfield around 8:30 p.m. local time and left around midnight. The secret trip, his first to Afghanistan as president, took the soldiers and many news outlets by surprise — including the left-leaning Newsweek, which prematurely published a false story accusing Trump of spending his holiday golfing.
The president received a hero’s welcome at the airbase, where he served turkey to the troops, snapped selfies and met with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. Trump joked that he didn’t have time to eat any turkey — only mashed potatoes – before he got pulled away to take pictures, the AP said.
“I never got the turkey,” he told the troops. “A gorgeous piece of turkey.”
United States Army General and the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley introduces the 45th President of the United States @realDonaldTrump at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/uMRA5t5yyk
— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸 (@Scavino45) November 28, 2019
In a speech, Trump thanked the troops for their service and touted the defeat of ISIS leader Abu Bakr-Al Baghdadi to cheers from the crowd. The president also reiterated his hope of ending America’s “endless” wars, of which Afghanistan is the longest, telling the troops he was eager for the day when they could all come home.
“We will continue to work tirelessly for the day when all of you can go home to your families … and that day is coming very soon,” he said.
Trump announces Taliban peace negotiations
The president also said that stalled peace talks with the Taliban had resumed and that the Taliban want a cease-fire. Trump broke off the talks in September after the Taliban killed 12 people, including one American, in a bombing in Kabul. “The Taliban wants to make a deal — we’ll see if they make a deal. If they do they do, and if they don’t they don’t. That’s fine,” the president said.
Trump’s efforts to end the “endless wars,” while popular with the electorate, have faced immense pushback from the media and the establishments of both parties. More than 2,400 American troops have died since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001, and two American soldiers died in a helicopter crash little more than a week before Trump’s visit, CBS reported.
To keep the visit under wraps, Trump had publicly scheduled his Thanksgiving dinner at Mar-A-Lago, and reporters were instructed to keep the trip a secret for Trump’s safety, CBS reported. Trump touched down in Florida early Friday morning EST, the AP reported.
Trump said he wants to draw down the troop presence, currently about 12,000, to 8,600 but that troops will stay “until we have a deal or we have total victory.” He was joined by White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on the trip.
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