Trump Made a Mess of His Trip to Visit Troops in Iraq
President Donald Trump had been scheduled to close out 2018 with a 16-day vacation at Mar-a-Lago, up from the 11 days he spent at the “Winter White House” to bring home his first year in office. But prior to Christmas, the president decided to shut down the government because Congress won’t fund a border wall. The display of obstinance involved sticking around Washington for the holidays. “It’s a disgrace what’s happening in this country,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Christmas morning. “But other than that, I wish everybody a merry Christmas.”
On Christmas night, however, Trump and Melania took off for a surprise trip to Iraq, where the president visited with the active duty service members in a combat zone for the first time since taking office. Accompanying the trip was the requisite hype video, this one set to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Link to tweet
This being Trump, the trip overseas wasn’t without a small flurry of controversies. Newsweek even pointed out that the hype video may have revealed the location of SEAL Team Five, a covert operations unit. In the video, Trump appears to be shaking hands with members of the unit, and a pool report notes that he took a picture with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Kyu Lee, who identified himself as the unit’s chaplain.
“Operational security is the most important aspect of personnel deployments,” former intelligence specialist Malcolm Nance told Newsweek. “The real names, faces, and identities, of personnel involved in special operations or activities, are usually a closely held secret in a combat zone. Revealing them casually, through an unusual media exposure even if it’s the commander in chief, would prove a propaganda boom if any of this personnel are detained by a hostile government or captured by a terrorist group. There would be no denying who you are and what you do.”
The video ends with some shots of Trump in a bomber jacket speaking to an assemblage of troops. This, too, wound up being problematic. Marred by partisan rhetoric and lies, the address was almost indistinguishable from one one he might give at a campaign rallies. “The Democrats don’t want to let us have strong borders,” the president griped. He then trailed off, talking about how the troops he was addressing are “modern-day warriors,” before musing that the best way to get the wall would be to tell Democrats that he doesn’t want it. “I figured out the solution,” he said. “First Lady, tell Nancy Pelosi I don’t want the wall.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-visit-troops-iraq-772783/
= new reply since forum marked as read
The entire Iraq junket was to distract 45’s cult followers with tales of great victories in the East by righteous, red-blooded, Christian armies of light, led by their fearless, globalist-slaying Fuhrer.
Now, pardon me while I go outside and barf out my entire soul.
Old 45 has clearly been stress-eating, with the TV remote in one hand, and the other fist crammed into an endless box of Christmas bon-bons.
Blech.
Kick in to the DU tip jar?
This week we're running a special pop-up mini fund drive. From Monday through Friday we're going ad-free for all registered members, and we're asking you to kick in to the DU tip jar to support the site and keep us financially healthy.
As a bonus, making a contribution will allow you to leave kudos for another DU member, and at the end of the week we'll recognize the DUers who you think make this community great.