Source: Twitter/Screenshot
President Trump made a surprise visit to troops in
Afghanistan on Thanksgiving Day. The president departed Joint Base Andrews on
Wednesday evening to make the 13-hour secret flight to Bagram Air Force Base,
arriving shortly after 11 a.m. EST.
According to reports, many measures were taken to conceal the
president's unscheduled trip. The president took off from an undisclosed
airport in Florida on Wednesday night around 7 p.m. EST. to travel to Joint
Base Andrews. He then boarded Air Force One, which had been removed from its
usual tarmac location and housed inside a hangar. Staff accompanying the
president had their cellular devices collected before takeoff and the White
House scheduled tweets from the president's Twitter account.
Traveling the 8,331 miles to the war zone with the
president was Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, White House Press Secretary
Stephanie Grisham, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and Wyoming Senator
John Barrasso.
President Trump met with Afghanistan President Ashrav
Ghani before serving meals to troops, taking pictures and speaking to those
gathered at Bagram Air Force Base.
"There’s nowhere I’d rather celebrate this
Thanksgiving than right here with the toughest, strongest, best and bravest
warriors on the face of the Earth," the president told the troops.
Trump also announced peace talks with that Taliban have
been restarted after the president broke off talks following a bombing in
September that killed an American soldier and 11 other people.
Around 12,000 troops remain in Afghanistan, down from
around 14,000 that had been there earlier this year. The president said he
plans to bring more troops back from Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, Vice President Mike Pence surprised
troops in Iraq with an early Thanksgiving meal.
The president is now back to the United
States.
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President Trump speaking with U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a surprise visit for Thanksgiving:
"There’s nowhere I’d rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here
with the toughest, strongest, best and bravest warriors on the face of the Earth."
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US troops in Afghanistan
break out chanting USA! USA! as President Trump surprises them for Thanksgiving
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#NEW: Pres. Trump during a
surprise Thanksgiving visit to the troops in Afghanistan, says peace talks with
the Taliban have resumed:
"The Taliban wants to make a deal... and they only want to make a deal because you're doing a great job.”
"The Taliban wants to make a deal... and they only want to make a deal because you're doing a great job.”
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Thanksgiving Day,
Afghanistan, 2019
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U.S. President Donald
Trump eats dinner with U.S. troops at a Thanksgiving dinner event during a
surprise holiday visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, November 28, 2019.
REUTERS/Tom Brenner
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President Trump visited
our troops at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
No press pool.
We have an amazing President!
No press pool.
We have an amazing President!
