The HuffPost reports<\/a>: \u2018The president told service members at al-Asad air base in Iraq that he was proud to secure them a much-needed pay bump of \u201cmore than 10 percent\u201d after years of stagnant wages. Many of the troops in attendance may have been surprised to learn they hadn\u2019t seen a pay increase in more than a decade. In fact, military members have seen a pay raise in each of the last 10 years<\/a>, 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<\/a>\u00a0in the wake of the Great Recession. The pay increase for 2019 passed by Congress and signed by the president<\/a> in August will be 2.6 percent, the largest since 2010. It is not far above last year\u2019s raise for troops, which was 2.4 percent.\u2019<\/p>\n President Trump incorrectly tells troops in Iraq that he gave them their first pay raise in more than 10 years \u2014 a false claim Trump’s made before t.co\/gnfpibUhsx<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/KaFEy7b2OT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) December 27, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Said Trump:\u00a0\u201cIs anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got? You haven\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump to the troops in Iraq: \u2014 Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 26, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Trump also said he was in no rush to replace Defense Secretary James Mattis<\/a>: \u2018While in Iraq, Trump indicated he would not rush to nominate a new secretary to replace Mattis, the first defense chief in decades to resign over policy differences with the president. Trump said Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, whom he named on Sunday to replace Mattis in an acting capacity starting on Jan. 1, \u201ccould be there for a long time.\u201d Trump has come under withering criticism from fellow Republicans, Democrats and international allies over his decision to pull out of Syria because he believed Islamic State militants have been defeated. Critics argue that the decision could undercut U.S. leverage in the region and undermine diplomatic efforts to the end the Syrian civil war, now in its eighth year.\u2019<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s full address:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Morning Joe\u2019s Joe Scarborough blasted Trump in his Thursday morning monologue:\u00a0\u201cThe troops were clearly glad to see him, I think every American should be grateful for that, but we should be concerned that Trump once again used a captive audience of American heroes to push his unpopular domestic agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Added Scarborough:\u00a0\u201cU.S. Leaders once stood up to bullying threats from tyrannical thugs\u2026But now we have a weak president who fears Russia and Turkey, and is in full retreat across the globe and he has gifted to Middle East, to Russia, to Iran and to ISIS. It just seems to me that we aren\u2019t the suckers after all, Mr. President. You are, and you\u2019re the sucker for believing that dismantling America\u2019s most successful military operations across the globe will do anything other than help Russia, ISIS, Iran and our other geopolitical enemies, our threats. That is not going to make America great again. It\u2019s going to make us much weaker than we\u2019ve been at any time since World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n Making his entrance:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s visit angered some Iraqi leaders who saw it as a blow to their sovereignty, Reuters reports<\/a>: \u2018Sabah al Saadi, the leader of the Islah parliamentary bloc, called for an emergency session of parliament \u201cto discuss this blatant violation of Iraq\u2019s sovereignty and to stop these aggressive actions by Trump who should know his limits: The U.S. occupation of Iraq is over.\u201d The Bina bloc, Islah\u2019s rival in parliament and led by Iran-backed militia leader Hadi al-Amiri, also objected to Trump\u2019s trip to Iraq. \u201cTrump\u2019s visit is a flagrant and clear violation of diplomatic norms and shows his disdain and hostility in his dealings with the Iraqi government,\u201d said a statement from Bina.\u2019<\/p>\n Trump also violated protocol designed to keep secret locations of special forces secret by tweeting a video<\/a> of\u00a0Seal Team 5\u00a0at the al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq.<\/p>\n .@FLOTUS<\/a> Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.! pic.twitter.com\/rDlhITDvm1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Newsweek reports<\/a>: \u2018Malcolm Nance, a former U.S. Navy intelligence specialist with experience in Iraq told\u00a0Newsweek\u00a0<\/em>on Wednesday that posting the video<\/a> was a break from traditional procedures that are usually strictly enforced and designed to safeguard the identities of U.S. special operation forces, especially when deployed to a combat zone. \u201cOperational security is the most important aspect of personnel deployments. The real names, faces, and identities, of personnel involved in special operations or activities, are usually a closely held secret in a combat zone,\u201d Nance said. \u201cRevealing them casually, through an unusual media exposure even if it\u2019s 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.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post Trump in Iraq Lies to Troops About Pay Raise, Says He\u2019s Not in Rush to Replace Mattis, Exposes Seal Team, Angers Iraqi Leaders<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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“You haven\u2019t 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\u2026.I said no. Make it ten percent. Make it more than ten percent. Because it\u2019s been a long time.”
Just FYI, none of this is true.<\/p>\n\n