US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have made a Christmas visit to US troops in Iraq, the White House has confirmed.
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump take photos with members of the US military during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base. Photo: AFP
They travelled there unannounced "late on Christmas night" to thank troops for "their service, their success and their sacrifice", it said.
Mr Trump said the US had no plans to pull out of Iraq, Reuters reports.
It comes days after Defence Secretary Jim Mattis quit over disagreements about strategy in the region.
Mr Trump and his wife made a visit to al-Asad airbase to meet military personnel in the base's restaurant.
Mr Trump said the US could use Iraq as a forward base if "we wanted to do something in Syria", Reuters news agency reports.
He defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria during the visit, saying: "A lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking."
He announced the decision to pull US troops out of Syria last week.
- BBC