--- title: Trump Returns to White House After Surprise Iraq Trip description: President Trump returned to Washington D.C. early Thursday following a surprise trip to Iraq canonical: https://time.com/5489062/trump-iraq-troops-visit/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-27T13:12:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:57:20.763Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Returns to White House After Surprise Iraq Trip og:description: President Trump returned to Washington D.C. early Thursday following a surprise trip to Iraq og:url: https://time.com/5489062/trump-iraq-troops-visit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt904b646cbb7c0292/69894250db298717a126189b/trump-iraq-trip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2369 og:image:height: 1333 og:image:alt: President Trump Returns After Trip To Al Asad Air Base In Iraq og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Returns to White House After Surprise Iraq Trip twitter:description: President Trump returned to Washington D.C. early Thursday following a surprise trip to Iraq twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt904b646cbb7c0292/69894250db298717a126189b/trump-iraq-trip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Returns to White House After Surprise Iraq Trip > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 27, 2018 1:12 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump make their way across the South Lawn of the White House after returning on Marine One from their surprise trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq to visit troops, on December 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump make their way across the South Lawn of the White House after returning on Marine One from their surprise trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq to visit troops, on December 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Pool—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 27, 2018 1:12 PM UTC President Trump returned to Washington D.C. early Thursday following a surprise [trip to Iraq](http://time.com/5488775/donald-trump-visit-iraq-syria-isis/) where he greeted U.S. service members stationed there for the first time in his nearly two years in office. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump made the unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base about a week after the President made the [controversial decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria](http://time.com/5484972/donald-trump-syria-withdrawal/), which borders Iraq. Trump defended the decision while addressing troops Wednesday, saying that ISIS has been defeated in Syria. “We’ve knocked them out,” he said. “We’ve knocked them silly.”  President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive to speak to members of the US military during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq on December 26, 2018. SAUL LOEB—AFP/Getty Images Trump’s move to pull troops from Syria has has drawn criticism from military officials who are now tasked with finding a way to withdraw from the country without abandoning allies or reversing the gains made against ISIS. While the terrorist group has been subdued, it is still present in Syria. Trump told troops in Iraq that his choice to pull out of Syria is part of his “America first” agenda. “We’re no longer suckers, folks,” he said. “We’re respected again as a nation.” During his visit, Trump spoke by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, the Associated Press reports. The Prime Minister’s office said “differences in points of view over the arrangements” prevented a meeting between the two leaders. In Iraq’s parliament, two major blocks condemned Trump’s visit, saying it violated the country’s sovereignty.  President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet members of the US military during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq on December 26, 2018. SAUL LOEB—AFP/Getty Images Trump also greeted troops at the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany during a refueling stop. He commended service members in a tweet upon returning to D.C. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1078258964796706816) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5489062/trump-iraq-troops-visit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5489062/trump-iraq-troops-visit/"},"headline":"President Trump Returns to White House After Surprise Iraq Trip","datePublished":"2018-12-27T13:12:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:57:20.763Z","description":"President Trump returned to Washington D.C. early Thursday following a surprise trip to Iraq","url":"https://time.com/5489062/trump-iraq-troops-visit/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt904b646cbb7c0292/69894250db298717a126189b/trump-iraq-trip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt904b646cbb7c0292/69894250db298717a126189b/trump-iraq-trip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Returns After Trip To Al Asad Air Base In Iraq","caption":"President Trump Returns After Trip To Al Asad Air Base In Iraq","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5489062/trump-iraq-troops-visit/","name":"President Trump Returns to White House After Surprise Iraq Trip"}}]}] ```