Trump surprises troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving

Washington Examiner  "President Trump surprised American troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving after leaving his Florida residence overnight.

"He visited Bagram Air Base on Thursday, delivering Thanksgiving greetings to U.S. troops deployed there in America’s longest-running war. This is Trump’s second visit to a combat zone. He previously visited troops in Iraq the day after Christmas in 2018.

"In the president's address to the troops, he announced renewed peace talks between the United States and the Taliban, claiming the Taliban wants "to make a deal."

" 'We’ll see if they want to make a deal," he said. "It's got to be a real deal, but we’ll see. But they want to make a deal. And they only want to make a deal because you are doing a great job. That is the only reason they want to make a deal. So I want to thank you and I want to thank the Afghan soldiers for — I’ve spoken to a lot of you today and you say they are really fighting hard. I was impressed with that actually. So I want to thank you."

"Trump has long wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan, and his visit coincides with the Afghan government's engagement in an extended stalemate with the Taliban."

"There is nowhere that I’d rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here with the toughest, strongest, best, and bravest warriors on the face of the Earth. You are indeed that," Trump added.

"He continued, "When I took office, if you can believe it almost three years ago, we were very depleted. Our military was depleted in terms of equipment. You see, right? They're all shaking their heads. We have all those brand new planes and brand new helicopters and brand new ships being built now, brand new powerful submarines' ."

From CNN...wait..what? Yes, CNN! In photos: President Trump's holiday visit to US troops in Iraq

Why Newsweek Was All Wrong About a ‘Tweeting, Golfing’ Trump on Thanksgiving

"Too many people in the leftwing media appear to be waiting to pounce on anything they can to try make President Donald Trump look bad or paint him in a negative light, in my view.

"And most times they’re too impatient to wait for actual facts.

"So — they wind up going out with something and then having to correct themselves.

"Case in point: Leftist rag Newsweek printed a story painting President Trump to be some lousy, good-for-nothing, selfish jerk, who only golfs and thinks of himself and how his Florida Thanksgiving would be like some golden, self-indulgent extravaganza.

"The only problem is, the publication put out the story while he and first lady Melania Trump were on their way to Afghanistan to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops." . . .

"Here’s what Newsweek printed — and note how its correction was all the way at the bottom of the article:"

HOW IS TRUMP SPENDING THANKSGIVING? TWEETING, GOLFING AND MORE   He spent Thanksgiving Eve, from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, playing golf at his Trump International Golf Club. It was closed to the press, according to his public schedule.Trump’s past Thanksgiving meals have reportedly involved 24 dishes including turkey, stone crab, beef tenderloin, leg of lamb, scallops, ahi tuna martinis, lobster bisque and seven desserts.As with any other day of the year, Trump will probably be tweeting, or expressing his opinions in another way.On Thanksgiving Eve, Trump tweeted an image of his head on the body of Rocky Balboa, the fictional boxer portrayed by actor Sylvester Stallone in numerous movies.Updated 3:27 p.m. EST: Following the publication of this article, the president made a surprise, unannounced visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving. [emphasis added]