Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — President Donald Trump made a shock journey to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving to rally U.S. troops involved in the almost two-decade-old warfare effort.

It was his first visit to the country, and the president used the chance to announce the restart of peace negotiations with the Taliban, the insurgent drive the U.S. initially invaded Afghanistan to oust. Trump made the announcement during a gathering with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, saying he believes the Taliban needs a ceasefire.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to end what he calls “countless wars” within the Middle East, even as the region is beset with political instability — stalled peace talks and violence in Afghanistan, anti-government protests raging by way of Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, a civil struggle ravaging Yemen and a bloody Turkish invasion in Syria.

In Afghanistan specifically, Trump has pledged to tug out American troops, although attempts to negotiate a peace settlement between the U.S., Taliban and the Afghan authorities have repeatedly fallen aside.

Trump secretly left his Mar-a-Lago Florida resort Wednesday night time and set out across the globe to supply the kind of made-for-TV moment the commander-in-chief relishes.

It’s the second time Trump has traveled to a combat zone as president. Last yr, he made a Christmas trip to Iraq.

Since then, a yr has passed, however the issues Trump is grappling with are all the same.

When he traveled to Iraq final yr, he had just ordered a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and had pushed for halving the roughly 14,000-strong U.S. army contingent in Afghanistan. This yr, Trump continues to be working by way of a U.S. drawdown in Syria — just lately saying that lots of of troops would stay to protect oil amenities — and still pushing to scale back the army presence in Afghanistan to round eight,600 troops.

Last yr, Trump was dealing with a rupture together with his army leaders over his Syria choice, with Protection Secretary James Mattis resigning in protest. This yr, Trump has irritated numerous prime army officers together with his intervention in the case of a Navy SEAL, which led to the firing of the Navy secretary.

Final yr, Trump was preventing with Democrats in Congress over their refusal to fund his border, even shutting down the federal government over the difficulty. This yr, he’s preventing with Democrats over their determination to launch an impeachment inquiry into his Ukraine coverage.

Visiting troops abroad has lengthy been a holiday tradition for presidents and their prime aides.

Vice President Mike Pence, who visited Afghanistan right earlier than Christmas in 2017, made a trip to Iraq last week partially to guarantee Kurdish forces of the U.S.’s dedication after Trump in October abruptly decreased troops in nearby northern Syria. Almost 100 Kurds have died and one other 200,000 have been displaced after Turkey moved in, in accordance with the United Nations.

The White House didn’t announce Trump’s Thanksgiving trip in advance, saying as an alternative he can be spending the holiday at Mar-a-Lago. He was accompanied by 13 members of the media, who have been barred from reporting on the journey for safety causes till after he had landed.

His journey comes as House Democrats are wrapping up an impeachment inquiry into whether or not Trump conditioned a White Home meeting and hundreds of thousands in safety assist for Ukraine on the nation’s leaders opening politically advantageous investigations.

The Judiciary Committee — the panel that may write articles of impeachment towards Trump — will maintain its first hearing on the impeachment process Wednesday, following two weeks of testimony from a dozen witnesses on the Ukraine allegations.

In current days, Trump has continued with different points of his presidency and re-election marketing campaign — meeting the Bulgarian prime minister, holding the annual turkey pardon, rallying supporters in Florida — all whereas blasting Democrats for their investigation.

“I by no means in my wildest goals thought my identify would in any means be associated with the ugly phrase, Impeachment!” he posted on Twitter last week.

His trip also comes on the heels of a dust-up with senior army officers.

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was fired over the weekend after he objected to Trump’s order that Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher retain his elite status, despite a current struggle crimes conviction. In his resignation letter, Spencer wrote that he doesn’t share “the identical understanding with the commander in chief who appointed me, in regards to the key precept of excellent order and self-discipline.”

Trump’s intervention has spurred speak inside the Pentagon that other prime officials might depart over comparable objections.

Trump’s trip provides him an opportunity to distance himself from these troubles at house — and to spotlight what he sees as his army achievements.

The president spent about two-and-a-half hours on the bottom. He served turkey to troops in a cafeteria, posed for pictures with them and delivered temporary remarks to them in a hanger.

While there, he also addressed the fitful peace negotiations in the nation, saying that talks would begin again.

In September, Trump canceled plans to secretly deliver Taliban leaders and the Afghan president to Camp David, slicing off talks after the Islamist militia took duty for a current attack that killed a U.S. soldier.

However just some days in the past, Trump signaled that peace negotiations with the Taliban might resume. And he reiterated that he would withdraw U.S. troops from the nation.

“You already know we're pulling method down in Afghanistan. We're working on an settlement now with the Taliban. Let’s see what happens,” Trump informed Fox News Friday.

Trump expressed optimism that negotiations might resume after a prisoner swap that led to the discharge of American Kevin King, who had been in Taliban arms for 3 years.

The U.S. initially invaded Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults to oust the Taliban, which had lengthy helped harbor Osama bin Laden. A U.S.-led NATO coalition has remained within the country to battle the Taliban, ISIS and al-Qaeda, the bin Laden-inspired terrorist group.

Despite his pledge to go away Afghanistan, Trump has truly expanded the variety of U.S. troops in the nation by a number of thousand. This yr, no less than 19 People have been killed in fight in Afghanistan. In complete, greater than 2,400 People have died within the country because the U.S. first arrived in October 2001.

Article originally revealed on POLITICO Magazine

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