Trump and Melania on a Surprise Visit to Afghanistan for Thanksgiving

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The U.S President Donald Trump has arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced Thanksgiving Day visit. He announced that the United States is back in talks with the Taliban and a ceasefire is possible. He arrived at Bagram Air Base and spent at least two-and-a-half hours on the ground, at one point serving Thanksgiving food to military personnel. The plans were kept under wraps due to his own safety. His public schedule had said he would be at Mar-a-Lago to host a videoconference call with troops. Trump said he hopes to bring the number of troops in Afghanistan down to 8,600 from the current 14,000.

Trump also met with the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani. He said during their meeting, “The Taliban needs to make a deal and we’re meeting with them and we’re saying it has to be a ceasefire. They didn’t want to do a ceasefire and now they do want to do a ceasefire. I believe it’ll probably work out that way”. Trump’s surprise visit comes at least two months after Trump broke off peace talks with the Taliban after a bombing in Kabul killed 12 people, including an American soldier.

President Trump was joined on the trip by White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien. It includes a small group of aides, secret service agents, and a pool of reporters from various media. It is noteworthy that a helicopter was crashed in the country earlier this month and brought the number of US deaths in Afghanistan this year to 19. The current year has been considered the deadliest for the U.S Armed Forces since the troop invaded in 2014. At least 2,400 American soldiers have died in the nearly 18-year war. The U.S President Trump and First lady made a similar trip and it was the first trip to an active conflict zone in Iraq last year at Christmas.