Trump says he has 'no plans at all' to withdraw US troops from Iraq during his first visit to troops in a combat zone

Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump meet US troops in an unannounced visit to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq, December 26, 2018.

• President Donald Trump made a surprise trip to visit US troops in Iraq on Wednesday.
• There, he said he has "no plans at all" to withdraw troops from the country.
• Last week, he abruptly announced he was pulling troops out of Syria and Afghanistan.

During a surprise trip to Iraq, his first such visit with US troops in a combat zone, President Donald Trump says he has "no plans at all" to withdraw US forces from the country, where they've been present since the 2003 invasion.

Trump had not previously said he would pull US troops from Iraq, but the trip comes after he abruptly announced the withdrawal of some 2,000 US troops from Syria - a decision that reportedly prompted Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' resignation - and reports emerged of plans to remove about half of the 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan.

Mattis, who will leave office at the end of the year, signed an order to withdraw troops from Syria.

Trump, accompanied by his wife, Melania, traveled to Iraq late on Christmas night, flying to Al-Asad air base in western Iraq and delivering a holiday message to the more than 5,000 US troops stationed there. He is expected to make two stops on the trip, according to The New York Times.

Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq, December 26, 2018.

The trip was kept secret, with Air Force One reportedly making the 11-hour flight with lights off and window shades drawn. Trump said he had never seen anything like it and that he was more concerned with the safety of those with him than he was for himself, according to the Associated Press.

The president said that because of gains made against ISIS in Syria, the US military is able to return home. US officials have said the militant group holds about 1% of the territory it once occupied, though several thousand fighters remain in pockets in western Syria and others have blended back into local populations.

Trump said the mission in Syria was to remove ISIS from its strongholds and not to be a nation-builder, which he said was a job for other wealthy countries. The US presence there was never meant to be "open-ended," he added.

Trump told reporters traveling with him that he wanted to remove US forces from Syria but that Iraq could still be used as a base to launch attacks on ISIS militants.

If needed, the US can attack ISIS "so fast and so hard" that they "won't know what the hell happened," Trump said.