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It was his second trip to a combat zone. He visited troops in Iraq in 2018 after Christmas.

He was travelling alongside acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.

First Lady Melania Trump stayed behind in Florida, officials said.

Upon touching down in Afghanistan, President Trump helped serve Thanksgiving dinner to roughly two dozen troops at Bagram Air Field’s dining facility.

\"PHOTO:
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: Afghan's President Ashraf Ghani speaks to the troops as President Donald Trump listens during a surprise Thanksgiving day visit at Bagram Air Field, Nov. 28, 2019, in Afghanistan.
>

Before speaking to the troops, President Trump told some in the dining hall that he would be talking to them later, \"but right now I want to have some turkey.\"

Last year, the president stayed in the U.S. for Thanksgiving and spoke with troops in Afghanistan on the phone while at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

After expressing gratitude for their service, he took time to criticize the appeals court that blocked his administration's efforts to deny migrants if they seek asylum after entering from outside formal points of entry.

In 2017, the president also stayed in Florida and spoke with troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey and Bahrain and aboard the USS Monterey on a video call.

ABC News' Shannon Crawford, Meredith McGraw and Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.

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