Pence, second lady make unannounced trip to Iraq to visit US troops

Vice President Pence and second lady Karen Pence made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Saturday to visit troops stationed there for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Upon arrival at the Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq, Pence received a closed-door classified briefing and then called Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi, according to a pool report.

Happy Thanksgiving from Iraq. @SecondLady and I are so honored to be with our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines here in Iraq! We are so proud of you and thankful for you all! pic.twitter.com/bzcM1fGgiG

— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) November 23, 2019

The Pences also served Thanksgiving lunch to approximately 150 U.S. troops, after which the vice president delivered remarks to about 200 U.S. troops.

BREAKING: Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Iraq to reassure Kurdish allies and greet troop ahead of Thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/nvhUSK1YQl

— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) November 23, 2019
{mosads}Pence thanked the troops for their service, but called on Congress to finalize a deal on defense spending, saying it should have been done “months ago.”

“The truth is, Congress should have finished their business on defense appropriations months ago,” he said. “But you all know partisan politics and endless investigations have slowed things down in Washington, D.C.”

President Trump visited troops at the base on Dec. 26 last year during his first trip to Iraq.