Trump Visits Troops In Iraq, Lies About Pay Increase, Reveals Navy Seal Team & Pisses Of Iraq

Donald Trump speaks to troops in Iraq

So, to give credit where credit is due, Donald Trump finally visited US troops in a combat zone for the first time since taking office.

Trump flew to Iraq for a few hours yesterday to meet and take photos with military service members.

However, while speaking to the troops, he lied to the soldiers he says he loves so dearly saying he had given them their first pay raise in ten years (nope) and it was a 10% raise (nope).

“You protect us. We are always going to protect you. And you just saw that, ’cause you just got one of the biggest pay raises you’ve ever received. You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one. I got you a big one."

“They had plenty of people that came up, they said, ‘You know, we could make it smaller. We could make it 3%, we could make it 2%, we could make it 4%.'"

“No. Make it 10%. Make it more than 10%. Cause it’s been a long time, it’s been more than 10 years. Been more than 10 years, that’s a long time.”

HuffPost has the facts:

In fact, military members have seen a pay raise in each of the last 10 years, ranging from 1 percent to 3.9 percent, according to the Defense Department. They even saw pay bumps when other federal workers were subjected to a three-year pay freeze in the wake of the Great Recession.

The pay increase for 2019 passed by Congress and signed by the president in August will be 2.6 percent, the largest since 2010. It is not far above last year’s raise for troops, which was 2.4 percent.

Trump to the troops in Iraq:
"You haven’t gotten [a raise] in more than ten years. More than ten years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one....I said no. Make it ten percent. Make it more than ten percent. Because it’s been a long time."
Just FYI, none of this is true.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 26, 2018

Trump then makes two flagrant lies in a row: 1) He said the US military got its first pay raise in 10 years. FACT: The military has received a pay increase each year except for '83 and that was a technical glitch. @PolitiFact rated it Pants on Fire. https://t.co/MvE0T8NOQH

— Ali Rogin (@AliABCNews) December 26, 2018

Then 2) He said he raised the military's pay by ten percent. FACT: It was raised 2.8% in 2018 and another 2.6% in the current NDAA.

— Ali Rogin (@AliABCNews) December 26, 2018

Note to @realDonaldTrump: Had you served in the military you would know that each month we get a Leave and Earnings (LES) statement that shows our pay. So many military members know you are lying about their paycheck, but they are respectful so they don't say that to your face. https://t.co/4K5ZZKBZZn

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 27, 2018

Trump also appeared to have compromised the mission of a Navy Seal team by tweeting video of the team without blurring their faces which a break from protocol designed to keep secret locations of special forces secret.

Newsweek reports, "The president’s video posted Wednesday did not shield the faces of special operation forces. Current and former Defense Department officials told Newsweek that information concerning what units are deployed and where is almost always classified and is a violation of operational security."

After Trump visited Iraq, he posted a video to his Twitter account that may have compromised operational security and violated procedures designed to safeguard the identities of U.S. special operation forces, especially when deployed to a combat zone. https://t.co/UOQjskCJsn

— VoteVets (@votevets) December 27, 2018

And finally, Trump managed to piss off the Iraqis.

From Rolling Stone:

The nation’s lawmakers called the trip an infringement on its independence, as Trump failed to stop by Baghdad or meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. “Trump’s visit is a flagrant and clear violation of diplomatic norms and shows his disdain and hostility in his dealings with the Iraqi government,” read a statement from Iraqi parliament’s Bina bloc.

Just remember I gave him credit for at least visiting the troops.