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President Trump greeted U.S. troops on an unannounced trip Wednesday to Iraq, where he defended his decision to withdraw forces from neighboring Syria and declared that the Islamic State is “very nearly defeated” while making his first visit to a conflict zone as commander in chief.

The president used his visit to al-Asad Air Base to amplify his call to draw down the U.S. presence in foreign wars and assert his personal influence over the military at a moment of tremendous turmoil at the Pentagon.

After months of public pressure for him to spend time with troops deployed to conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia, Trump touched down at the joint U.S.-Iraqi base west of Baghdad after a secret flight from Washington.

Accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, the president sounded a triumphant note as he addressed U.S. service members on the day after Christmas. “We’re no longer the suckers, folks,” he said. And he warned that he was committed to withdrawing troops from foreign wars even when his administration’s experts object.

“The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world,” Trump said. “It’s not fair when the burden is all on us, the United States.”

After a briefing with military and diplomatic leaders on the ground, Trump strongly defended his decision to pull out of Syria. But he said he had no plans to withdraw American forces from Iraq, which he said the United States could use as a staging ground in the heart of the Middle East from which to combat Iran, or someday reenter Syria.

“If we see something happening with ISIS that we don’t like, we can hit them so fast and so hard . . . they really won’t know what the hell happened,” Trump said. “But it’s time to get our soldiers out.”

[A tumultuous week began with a phone call between Trump and the Turkish president]

Trump told reporters traveling with him that he would deny any request from generals to extend the U.S. operation in Syria, where roughly 2,000 troops are deployed.

“They said again, recently, ‘Can we have more time?’ ” Trump said of U.S. generals. “I said: ‘Nope. You can’t have any more time. You’ve had enough time.’ We’ve knocked them out. We’ve knocked them silly.”

Trump’s sudden decision last week to withdraw troops from Syria led Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State, to resign in protest.

Trump, who spent the holiday at the White House amid a partial federal government shutdown, departed Joint Base Andrews near Washington aboard Air Force One at 12:06 a.m. Wednesday. He flew in the dark of night in an attempt to preserve operational security.

Trump’s cover risked being blown by eagle-eyed social media users. A Twitter user in Germany posted that he had tracked an aircraft that could be Air Force One, while a British-based Flickr user later posted a photo of a plane bearing the presidential aircraft’s blue-and-white color scheme flying through clear skies over Yorkshire.

[Trump’s Iraq visit prompts concern over operational security]

After an 11-hour flight, the president and first lady landed at al-Asad Air Base at 7:16 p.m. local time. Trump was scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, but a face-to-face meeting was canceled for security and logistical reasons, so the two men spoke by phone, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Trump traveled with a small group of journalists, who were ordered for security reasons not to report that he was in Iraq until he had finished delivering his remarks to the troops, roughly three hours into his visit to the base.

Asked why he decided to visit Iraq, Trump told reporters: “It’s a place that I’ve been talking about for many years. And many, many years, before it started, I was talking about it, as a civilian.”

The president added, “I want to come and pay my respects, most importantly, to the great soldiers, great troopers we have here.”

Although Trump initially supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he later criticized the effort. He was also critical of President Barack Obama’s withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, saying the move created the Islamic State.

The unannounced visit continues a holiday tradition followed by past presidents.

Obama visited Afghanistan four times as president, most recently in 2014, and made a trip to Iraq shortly after his 2009 inauguration.

George W. Bush made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to troops in Iraq after the invasion in 2003 and traveled back three times as president. Bill Clinton visited troops in Bosnia in 1996 and spent Thanksgiving with troops in Kosovo in 1999, while George H.W. Bush spent Thanksgiving with service members in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and New Year’s with troops in Somalia in 1993.

Although Trump had previously addressed U.S. troops stationed overseas, including in Italy, Japan and South Korea, he had drawn criticism for not having visited those deployed to combat zones.

Vice President Pence <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pence-visits-troops-in-afghanistan-in-first-trip-to-a-war-zone/2017/12/21/eb14316a-e662-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?utm_term=.363b5f64e674" >visited Afghanistan</a> on Dec. 22, 2017, to address troops and meet with commanders at Bagram air base near Kabul.

Al-Asad Air Base is northwest of Ramadi, a city that the Islamic State captured before U.S.-backed Iraqi forces retook the area.

Trump said he considered the safety risks in making his first trip to a war zone.

“I had concerns for the institution of the presidency,” he told reporters. “Not for myself, personally. I had concerns for the first lady, I will tell you. But if you would have seen what we had to go through, with the darkened plane, with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever, anywhere — pitch black. I’ve never seen it. I’ve been in many airplanes — all types and shapes and sizes. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“So did I have a concern?” he added. “Yeah, I had a concern.”

[‘A rogue presidency’: The era of containing Trump is over]

In his speech to troops, Trump criticized their commanders, saying they had failed to meet the deadlines he set for withdrawal from Syria and other nations. “The men and women that serve are entitled to clear objectives and the confidence that when those objectives are met they can come home and be with their families,” he said.

The president also told a number of falsehoods to the troops during his speech. He said that he had given the troops a 10 percent pay raise and that the forces had not received a pay raise in more than 10 years. The sizable pay raise Trump authorized earlier this year, however, amounted to 2.6 percent, not 10 percent, and troops have received a pay raise every year for decades.

While presidents traditionally leave politics alone during holiday visits to the troops or talks to the armed forces, Trump did not shy away from his political talking points, hitting congressional Democrats for refusing to agree to fund construction of a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico and not wanting to spend more on defense.

For Trump, the war-zone visit was a chance to momentarily escape the growing peril for his presidency and generate images of himself acting as the commander in chief, complete with a bomber jacket.

Trump and the first lady mingled with uniformed service members at a base dining facility that was decorated for Christmas with foil balls, twinkling lights and snowmen made of stacked tires painted white. The president stopped to sign several “Make America Great Again” hats that service members brought, and at one point he autographed an embroidered patch that read “TRUMP 2020.”

Kyu Lee said that after he told Trump he was the chaplain for SEAL Team Five, the president responded, “Hey, in that case, let’s take a picture.”

Trump’s speech to troops had the feel of one of his campaign rallies. Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” played as the service members awaited his arrival, and Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” played when the president strode on stage. Troops chanted, “USA! USA!,” and Trump told them: “At ease! Let’s have a good time.”

The feel-good atmosphere of Trump’s visit belied the pitched tension in Washington between the president and the Defense Department.

Mattis tendered his resignation last Thursday over Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria and draw down numbers in Afghanistan, in addition to other differences. Although Mattis planned to leave in February, Trump on Sunday <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-forces-mattis-out-two-months-early-names-shanahan-acting-defense-secretary/2018/12/23/b78a0478-06d2-11e9-a3f0-71c95106d96a_story.html?utm_term=.66265220b4cf" title="www.washingtonpost.com">dismissed him early</a>, demanding that the retired Marine Corps general leave the Pentagon by year’s end.

Mattis and other top advisers had cautioned Trump not to order a precipitous withdrawal from Syria, where the 2,000 U.S. troops enabled a Kurdish-led militia to roll back the self-declared caliphate of the Islamic State.

Trump has not said anything in the past week about the U.S. presence in Iraq, where about 5,000 American troops remain, assisting Iraqi government forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters in the north in the effort to secure the nation from the threat of the Islamic State. U.S. forces reentered Iraq in 2014 after the Islamic State established its self-declared caliphate in Syria and swept through Iraq, reaching the outskirts of the capital, Baghdad.

[Trump forces Mattis out two months early, names Shanahan acting defense secretary]

Trump has long been critical of the war in Afghanistan, which has stretched on for more than 17 years, becoming the longest U.S. war.

He directed the Defense Department to withdraw nearly half of the more than 14,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan, U.S. officials said last week, despite warnings from many of his senior advisers and military officials that the move would invite chaos and terrorism.

Top U.S. officials have warned that absent a peace deal with the Taliban, Afghanistan could collapse and descend into further turmoil after a precipitous U.S. withdrawal.

But as he visited Iraq, Trump bemoaned U.S. commitments overseas.

“We are spread out all over the world,” the president said. “We are in countries most people haven’t even heard about. Frankly, it’s ridiculous.”

<email>philip.rucker@washpost.com</email>

Anne Gearan and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, 2018, for coverage of Russian interference

George Polk Award, 2018, for coverage of Russian interference

Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize, 2018, for distinguished reporting on the presidency

White House Correspondents' Association's Aldo Beckman Award, 2021, for overall excellence in White House coverage

Sigma Delta Chi Award, 2018, for coverage of Russian interference

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, 2022, for coverage of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol

George Polk Award, 2022, for coverage of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol

Robin Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, 2022, for coverage of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol

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Yale University, B.A. in History, 2006

Philip Rucker is the National Editor for The Washington Post, leading the staff covering Washington, national security, politics, U.S. news, health, science, race, immigration and other topics. He previously was White House Bureau Chief and co-authored two bestselling books about President Trump. He is a Political Analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.

Philip Rucker

Overseas Press Club Malcolm Forbes Award for best international business reporting, 2011, 2021

Society of American Business Editors and Writers Best in Business Awards, 2011

Overseas Press Club Stan Swinton Scholarship, 2008

Columbia University, BA in Russian language and literature

University of Oxford, New College, MPhil in Russian and East European studies

Paul Sonne covers national security, focusing on Russia and Europe. He previously reported for the Wall Street Journal from Moscow, London and Washington.