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Trump Praises ‘Outstanding’ Vets Wounded In Syria And Afghanistan He Met At Walter Reed

(Photo by Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images)

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Evie Fordham Politics and Health Care Reporter
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President Donald Trump praised the “outstanding” members of the military wounded in Syria and Afghanistan he met at Walter Reed in a tweet Saturday as he continues to push for withdrawal of U.S. troops from those regions.

“It was great meeting some of our outstanding young military personnel who were wounded in both Syria and Afghanistan,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Their wounds are deep but their spirit is sooo high. They will recoverer [sic] [and] be back very soon. America loves them. Walter Reed Hospital is AMAZING – Thank you all!”

Trump was at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for his annual physical Friday. White House physician Dr. Sean Conley wrote that the president is in “very good health” in a memo to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Trump has continued to hammer his plan to pull troops from Afghanistan and Syria after the Senate voted 68-23 Jan. 31 to rebuke a “precipitous withdrawal” from the two countries. (RELATED: Trump Defends Plan To Withdraw From Afghanistan And Syria: Unlimited Spending And Death)

“I inherited a total mess in Syria and Afghanistan, the ‘Endless Wars’ of unlimited spending and death,” Trump wrote on Twitter Feb. 1. “During my campaign I said, very strongly, that these wars must finally end. We spend $50 Billion a year in Afghanistan and have hit them so hard that we are now talking peace… after 18 long years.”

“Syria was loaded with ISIS until I came along,” he added. “We will soon have destroyed 100% of the Caliphate, but will be watching them closely. It is now time to start coming home and, after many years, spending our money wisely. Certain people must get smart!”

US President Donald Trump boards Marine One as he departs from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on February 8, 2019. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump boards Marine One as he departs from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on February 8, 2019. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump takes his motorcade to Marine One as he leaves Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after receiving his annual physical exam in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S., February 8, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis

U.S. President Donald Trump takes his motorcade to Marine One as he leaves Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after receiving his annual physical exam in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S., February 8, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis

The U.S. lost more than 2,400 soldiers and spent nearly $1 trillion since entering Afghanistan in 2001, according to Military Times. Trump ordered more than 7,000 U.S. troops, or around half of the 14,000 in the country, to come home from Afghanistan in late December 2018.

There were roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria “working as advisers to the Syrian Defense Forces or providing other support to local militias battling the Islamic State” as of April 2018, reported USA Today. Trump began drawing down troops in the country in late December.

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