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. 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? 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.' 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. You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. 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.
U.S. President Donald Trump issues an executive order freezing federal workers' pay raise in 2019, excluding that of military personnel.