Al Asad Air Base [Iraq], Dec 27 (ANI): US President Donald Trump, who is on his first trip to visit troops stationed in Iraq, defended his decision of pulling out armed forces from Syria stating that US military gains against the Islamic State terror group is the reason he can withdraw 2,000 forces from Syria.

Fox News quoted Trump as saying, "We're no longer the suckers, folks. We're respected again as a nation."

However, he clarified that he has no plans of removing the 5,000 US troops from Iraq.

Stating that Turkey has agreed to wipe out the remnants of ISIS in the war-torn nation of Syria, Trump told the service members at the base that US' presence in the country was not supposed to be "open-ended."

"I made it clear from the beginning that our mission in Syria was to strip ISIS of its military strongholds," he said.

Trump along with the First Lady Melania made an unannounced trip to Iraq. This is Trump's first trip to troops as Commander-in-Chief. (ANI)

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