President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump made a surprise visit to Iraq on Wednesday — their first visit to a war zone since the sitting president took office nearly two years ago.  

They left from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland shortly after midnight with a small group of journalists and aides in tow. Trump was in the country for roughly three hours before the White House confirmed his whereabouts.  

The president delivered a speech to the rank and file at Al Asad Airbase, took selfies with the troops and met with military leaders in Iraq. 

'I want to come and pay my respects most importantly to the great soldiers,' he said of the visit. 'Great troopers we have here.'

Trump announced last week that he's pulling American troops out of neighboring Syria, because the U.S. had 'defeated ISIS' in the nation that's also mired in a civil war. 

'We've knocked them out. We've knocked them silly,' he said of the U.S. assault on ISIS in Syria on Wednesday.