In the dark of night, he traveled via helicopter to the Presidential Palace in Kabul — a trip that almost didn’t happen because visibility was low. Four helicopters took off without knowing whether they would be able to land. After they circled over Kabul, there was a brief break in the weather, allowing Pence to swoop in.
He met with President Ashraf Ghani and the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, both of whom he regularly communicates with on behalf of Trump.
“I hope my presence here is tangible evidence” of the Trump administration’s commitment to Afghanistan, Pence said in the opening minutes of a meeting with Ghani and his staff.
After meeting for about 45 minutes, Pence returned to the airfield and spoke to about 500 troops for 20 minutes. He opened his remarks by passing along greetings from Trump, who has yet to visit a combat zone as president.
“Under President Donald Trump, the armed forces of the United States will remain engaged in Afghanistan until we eliminate the terrorist threat to our homeland, to our people, once and for all,” Pence said in his speech to troops.
In Washington on Thursday afternoon, Trump made visited patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Pence was supposed to travel to Egypt and Israel this week, but aides said he canceled his plans at the last minute so he could stay in Washington in case his vote was needed to break a tie in the Senate on the tax overhaul package.
That decision, which was announced Monday afternoon, came amid uproar over the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and after several leaders in the region canceled their meetings with Pence. He is now expected to travel to the Middle East during the week of Jan. 14, according to senior White House officials.
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