WASHINGTON – In his first visit to U.S. troops in a conflict zone, President Donald Trump drew cheers when he told troops he won them their first raise in 10 years and suggested it was a whopping one. Neither is true.

TRUMP: “You just got one of the biggest pay raises you ever received. Unless you don’t want it. Does anybody here? Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got? I don’t see too many hands. Ah, OK. don’t give it up. It’s great. You know what? Nobody deserves it more. You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one.” – remarks prompting cheers Wednesday at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.

THE FACTS: He’s wrong about there being no pay increase for service members in more than 10 years and about their raise being especially large.

U.S. military members have gotten a pay raise every year for decades. As well, several in the last 10 years have been larger than service members are getting now – 2.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2019. Raises in 2008, 2009 and 2010, for example, were all 3.4 percent or more.

Pay increases shrank during the following years as the administration struggled with congressionally mandated budget caps. Trump, aided by congressional action, did reverse the subsequent six-year trend that began in 2011 of pay raises that hovered between 1 and 2 percent. In 2017, service members got a 2.1 percent raise.

Trump has repeatedly told service members that they’re getting the biggest or only pay raise that they have received in 10 years or more. In May, for example, he told graduates of the United States Naval Academy: “We just got you a big pay raise. First time in 10 years.”

More: Trump defends signing MAGA hats for service members during visit to Iraq, Germany

TRUMP: “You had plenty of people, they came up, they said, you know we could make it smaller. We could make it 3 percent, we could make it 2 percent, we could make it 4 percent. I said, ‘no, make it 10 percent – make it more than 10 percent.’” – remarks Wednesday at al-Asad base.

THE FACTS: Whatever he might have said at the time, the 2.6 percent for 2019 obviously falls far short of the 10 percent or more that he implied was achieved.

Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed to this report.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A look at the veracity of claims by political figures. Read more AP Fact Checks or follow @APFactCheck on Twitter.</s>Donald Trump lied to troops in Iraq that he had secured them a double digit pay raise when nothing could be further from the truth.

The HuffPost reports: ‘The president told service members at al-Asad air base in Iraq that he was proud to secure them a much-needed pay bump of “more than 10 percent” after years of stagnant wages. Many of the troops in attendance may have been surprised to learn they hadn’t 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, 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 in the wake of the Great Recession. The pay increase for 2019 passed by Congress and signed by the president in August will be 2.6 percent, the largest since 2010. It is not far above last year’s raise for troops, which was 2.4 percent.’

Said Trump: “Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got? You haven’t 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.”

Trump also said he was in no rush to replace Defense Secretary James Mattis: ‘While 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, “could be there for a long time.” 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.’

Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough blasted Trump in his Thursday morning monologue: “The 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.”

Added Scarborough: “U.S. Leaders once stood up to bullying threats from tyrannical thugs…But 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’t the suckers after all, Mr. President. You are, and you’re the sucker for believing that dismantling America’s 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’s going to make us much weaker than we’ve been at any time since World War II.”

Trump’s visit angered some Iraqi leaders who saw it as a blow to their sovereignty, Reuters reports: ‘Sabah al Saadi, the leader of the Islah parliamentary bloc, called for an emergency session of parliament “to discuss this blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and to stop these aggressive actions by Trump who should know his limits: The U.S. occupation of Iraq is over.” The Bina bloc, Islah’s rival in parliament and led by Iran-backed militia leader Hadi al-Amiri, also objected to Trump’s trip to Iraq. “Trump’s visit is a flagrant and clear violation of diplomatic norms and shows his disdain and hostility in his dealings with the Iraqi government,” said a statement from Bina.’

Trump also violated protocol designed to keep secret locations of special forces secret by tweeting a video of Seal Team 5 at the al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq.

Newsweek reports: ‘Malcolm Nance, a former U.S. Navy intelligence specialist with experience in Iraq told Newsweek on Wednesday that posting the video 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. “Operational 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,” Nance said. “Revealing them casually, through an unusual media exposure even if it’s 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.”’</s>WASHINGTON – In his first visit to U.S. troops in a conflict zone, President Donald Trump drew cheers when he told troops he won them their first raise in 10 years and suggested it was a whopping one. Neither is true.

TRUMP: “You just got one of the biggest pay raises you ever received. Unless you don’t want it. Does anybody here? Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got? I don’t see too many hands. Ah, OK. don’t give it up. It’s great. You know what? Nobody deserves it more. You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one.” – remarks prompting cheers Wednesday at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.

THE FACTS: He’s wrong about there being no pay increase for service members in more than 10 years and about their raise being especially large.

U.S. military members have gotten a pay raise every year for decades. As well, several in the last 10 years have been larger than service members are getting now – 2.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2019. Raises in 2008, 2009 and 2010, for example, were all 3.4 percent or more.

Pay increases shrank during the following years as the administration struggled with congressionally mandated budget caps. Trump, aided by congressional action, did reverse the subsequent six-year trend that began in 2011 of pay raises that hovered between 1 and 2 percent. In 2017, service members got a 2.1 percent raise.

Trump has repeatedly told service members that they’re getting the biggest or only pay raise that they have received in 10 years or more. In May, for example, he told graduates of the United States Naval Academy: “We just got you a big pay raise. First time in 10 years.”

More: Trump defends signing MAGA hats for service members during visit to Iraq, Germany

TRUMP: “You had plenty of people, they came up, they said, you know we could make it smaller. We could make it 3 percent, we could make it 2 percent, we could make it 4 percent. I said, ‘no, make it 10 percent – make it more than 10 percent.’” – remarks Wednesday at al-Asad base.

THE FACTS: Whatever he might have said at the time, the 2.6 percent for 2019 obviously falls far short of the 10 percent or more that he implied was achieved.

Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed to this report.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A look at the veracity of claims by political figures. Read more AP Fact Checks or follow @APFactCheck on Twitter.</s>WASHINGTON – In his first visit to U.S. troops in a conflict zone, President Donald Trump drew cheers when he told troops he won them their first raise in 10 years and suggested it was a whopping one. Neither is true.

TRUMP: “You just got one of the biggest pay raises you ever received. Unless you don’t want it. Does anybody here? Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got? I don’t see too many hands. Ah, OK. don’t give it up. It’s great. You know what? Nobody deserves it more. You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one.” – remarks prompting cheers Wednesday at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.

THE FACTS: He’s wrong about there being no pay increase for service members in more than 10 years and about their raise being especially large.

U.S. military members have gotten a pay raise every year for decades. As well, several in the last 10 years have been larger than service members are getting now – 2.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2019. Raises in 2008, 2009 and 2010, for example, were all 3.4 percent or more.

Pay increases shrank during the following years as the administration struggled with congressionally mandated budget caps. Trump, aided by congressional action, did reverse the subsequent six-year trend that began in 2011 of pay raises that hovered between 1 and 2 percent. In 2017, service members got a 2.1 percent raise.

Trump has repeatedly told service members that they’re getting the biggest or only pay raise that they have received in 10 years or more. In May, for example, he told graduates of the United States Naval Academy: “We just got you a big pay raise. First time in 10 years.”

More: Trump defends signing MAGA hats for service members during visit to Iraq, Germany

TRUMP: “You had plenty of people, they came up, they said, you know we could make it smaller. We could make it 3 percent, we could make it 2 percent, we could make it 4 percent. I said, ‘no, make it 10 percent – make it more than 10 percent.’” – remarks Wednesday at al-Asad base.

THE FACTS: Whatever he might have said at the time, the 2.6 percent for 2019 obviously falls far short of the 10 percent or more that he implied was achieved.

Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed to this report.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A look at the veracity of claims by political figures. Read more AP Fact Checks or follow @APFactCheck on Twitter.</s>WASHINGTON – In his first visit to U.S. troops in a conflict zone, President Donald Trump drew cheers when he told troops he won them their first raise in 10 years and suggested it was a whopping one. Neither is true.

TRUMP: “You just got one of the biggest pay raises you ever received. Unless you don’t want it. Does anybody here? Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got? I don’t see too many hands. Ah, OK. don’t give it up. It’s great. You know what? Nobody deserves it more. You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one.” – remarks prompting cheers Wednesday at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.

THE FACTS: He’s wrong about there being no pay increase for service members in more than 10 years and about their raise being especially large.

U.S. military members have gotten a pay raise every year for decades. As well, several in the last 10 years have been larger than service members are getting now – 2.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2019. Raises in 2008, 2009 and 2010, for example, were all 3.4 percent or more.

Pay increases shrank during the following years as the administration struggled with congressionally mandated budget caps. Trump, aided by congressional action, did reverse the subsequent six-year trend that began in 2011 of pay raises that hovered between 1 and 2 percent. In 2017, service members got a 2.1 percent raise.

Trump has repeatedly told service members that they’re getting the biggest or only pay raise that they have received in 10 years or more. In May, for example, he told graduates of the United States Naval Academy: “We just got you a big pay raise. First time in 10 years.”

More: Trump defends signing MAGA hats for service members during visit to Iraq, Germany

TRUMP: “You had plenty of people, they came up, they said, you know we could make it smaller. We could make it 3 percent, we could make it 2 percent, we could make it 4 percent. I said, ‘no, make it 10 percent – make it more than 10 percent.’” – remarks Wednesday at al-Asad base.

THE FACTS: Whatever he might have said at the time, the 2.6 percent for 2019 obviously falls far short of the 10 percent or more that he implied was achieved.

Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed to this report.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A look at the veracity of claims by political figures. Read more AP Fact Checks or follow @APFactCheck on Twitter.</s>Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday freezing federal workers' pay for 2019, following through on a proposal he announced earlier in the year.

The move, which nixes a 2.1% across-the-board pay raise that was set to take effect in January, comes as hundreds of thousands of federal employees are expecting to begin the new year furloughed or working without pay because of a partial government shutdown.

Trump told lawmakers he planned to scrap the 2019 pay bump for federal workers in August, saying the federal budget couldn't support it. In addition to the 2.1% pay increase, the executive order also cancels a yearly adjustment of paychecks based on the region of the country where workers are posted, called the "locality pay increase," that was due to take effect in January.

The move does not affect a 2.6% pay increase for US troops next year that was passed as part of the massive defense spending bill Trump signed in August.

Lawmakers could include a pay raise for 2019 in a spending bill to reopen the government, but negotiations have been at an impasse over money for Trump's border wall.

About 380,000 federal employees are on furlough and 420,000 are working without pay as the new year approaches.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders in August, Trump described the pay increase as "inappropriate."

"We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases," the President wrote.

Trump also stressed that a pay freeze would not affect the federal government's ability to attract qualified workers. He cited his statutory authority to adjust pay out of "national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare."</s>WASHINGTON – In his first visit to U.S. troops in a conflict zone, President Donald Trump drew cheers when he told troops he won them their first raise in 10 years and suggested it was a whopping one. Neither is true.

TRUMP: “You just got one of the biggest pay raises you ever received. Unless you don’t want it. Does anybody here? Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got? I don’t see too many hands. Ah, OK. don’t give it up. It’s great. You know what? Nobody deserves it more. You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one.” – remarks prompting cheers Wednesday at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.

THE FACTS: He’s wrong about there being no pay increase for service members in more than 10 years and about their raise being especially large.

U.S. military members have gotten a pay raise every year for decades. As well, several in the last 10 years have been larger than service members are getting now – 2.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2019. Raises in 2008, 2009 and 2010, for example, were all 3.4 percent or more.

Pay increases shrank during the following years as the administration struggled with congressionally mandated budget caps. Trump, aided by congressional action, did reverse the subsequent six-year trend that began in 2011 of pay raises that hovered between 1 and 2 percent. In 2017, service members got a 2.1 percent raise.

Trump has repeatedly told service members that they’re getting the biggest or only pay raise that they have received in 10 years or more. In May, for example, he told graduates of the United States Naval Academy: “We just got you a big pay raise. First time in 10 years.”

More: Trump defends signing MAGA hats for service members during visit to Iraq, Germany

TRUMP: “You had plenty of people, they came up, they said, you know we could make it smaller. We could make it 3 percent, we could make it 2 percent, we could make it 4 percent. I said, ‘no, make it 10 percent – make it more than 10 percent.’” – remarks Wednesday at al-Asad base.

THE FACTS: Whatever he might have said at the time, the 2.6 percent for 2019 obviously falls far short of the 10 percent or more that he implied was achieved.

Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed to this report.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A look at the veracity of claims by political figures. Read more AP Fact Checks or follow @APFactCheck on Twitter.</s>President Donald Trump has issued an executive order freezing pay for federal workers in 2019, blocking a 2.1 percent pay raise that was set to go into effect across the board in January.

Friday's order comes as some 800,000 federal employees remain furloughed or working without pay due to the partial government shutdown that is expected to continue into the new year.

The order, which overrides an automatic raise law, has been met with intense backlash from workers' advocates.

'This is just pouring salt into the wound,' Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union - which represents about 100,000 federal workers - said in a statement.

'It is shocking that federal employees are taking yet another financial hit. As if missed paychecks and working without pay were not enough, now they have been told that they don’t even deserve a modest pay increase.'

President Donald Trump on Friday issued an executive order freezing pay for 2.1 million federal workers in 2019, blocking a 2.1 percent pay raise that was set to go into effect across the board in January (file photo). The move comes as some 800,000 workers remain furloughed or working without pay as a result of the partial government shutdown that began last week

In addition to blocking the blanket raise, the order cancelled locality pay increases -paycheck adjustments made based on the region of the country where workers are posted.

However, the move will not affect a scheduled 2.6 percent pay raise for American troops that was passed as part of the massive defense spending bill Trump signed this fall.

Lawmakers could step in and include the scheduled raise in the 2019 spending bill, which is currently stalled over Trump's $5billion border wall demand.

Trump has been advocating the freeze since February - part of his long-proposed plan to shrink the federal government.

He announced his plan to scrap the 2019 pay increase in August, calling it 'inappropriate' in a letter to House and Senate leaders.

'We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,' Trump wrote.</s>(CNN) President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday freezing federal workers’ pay for 2019, following through on a proposal he announced earlier in the year.

The move, which nixes a 2.1% across-the-board pay raise that was set to take effect in January, comes as hundreds of thousands of federal employees are expecting to begin the new year furloughed or working without pay because of a partial government shutdown.

Trump told lawmakers he planned to scrap the 2019 pay bump for federal workers in August, saying the federal budget couldn’t support it. In addition to the 2.1% pay increase, the executive order also cancels a yearly adjustment of paychecks based on the region of the country where workers are posted, called the “locality pay increase,” that was due to take effect in January.</s>U.S. President Donald Trump has made good on a promise made earlier in the year and has frozen pay increases for federal workers, even as hundreds of thousands are left without paycheques due to a government shutdown.

READ MORE: U.S. government shutdown likely to go into second week

Trump signed an executive order Friday freezing pay for federal civilian workers in 2019. He had earlier said he would do so in August in a letter to Congress, saying the raise was “inappropriate.”

“We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” Trump said in August. “I view the increases that would otherwise take effect as inappropriate.”

The order affects roughly two million civilian workers who would otherwise have received a 2.1 per cent increase in January. It also cancels an initiative that would have raised rates based on where the worker worked, which was scheduled to take effect in January.

WATCH: Donald Trump tells troops in Iraq he won them first pay raise in 10 years

The news comes as about 380,000 federal employees are on furlough and 420,000 are working without pay.

“This is just pouring salt into the wound,” Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a statement. “It is shocking that federal employees are taking yet another financial hit.”

The freeze does not affect the 2.6 per cent pay raise for U.S. troops that was part of a large defense spending bill Trump signed in August and will take effect next year. Trump recently boasted of the pay raise to the troops, though he said it would be a 10 per cent increase.

READ MORE: Donald Trump told troops he won them first pay raise in 10 years — that’s not true

There is still hope workers could receive a raise as part of a deal to end the government shutdown, if Congress approves it and it is signed by Trump.
U.S. President Donald Trump issues an executive order freezing federal workers' pay raise in 2019, excluding that of military personnel.