PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – President Donald Trump’s first Christmas Eve in office was a busy one that unfolded like this: tweet against perceived adversaries, cheer U.S. troops spending the holiday overseas, play golf, chat with children anxious to know when Santa would get to their homes and eat dinner with the family.
“Today and every day, we’re incredibly thankful for you and for your families,” Trump told the troops via video hook-up from his Florida estate, where he is spending the holidays with his family. “Your families have been tremendous. Always underappreciated, the military families. The greatest people on Earth.”
Trump briefly addressed members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard stationed in Qatar, Kuwait and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and patrolling the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East.
Vice President Mike Pence rallied U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan during a surprise visit last week.
Trump complimented each branch of the armed forces, starting with the Army’s “Iron Brigade” combat team in Kuwait, which he said is performing a “vital mission” by partnering with the Iraqi, Kuwaiti, Saudi Arabian and Jordanian armies.