U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press after talking to members of the military via teleconference from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2018. (Xinhua/Photo by Mandel NGAN/AFP)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington was "in very strong negotiations" with Afghanistan, also hinting a possible visit to the war-torn country by himself.
"We're in very strong negotiations with Afghanistan right now," Trump told reporters after giving a Thanksgiving Day message to U.S. soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.
"We'll see what happens," he added.
The U.S. president also hinted a likely visit by himself to Afghanistan during his holiday message teleconference with U.S. troops deployed there, which will be his first trip to the war-riddled country after taking office.
"Maybe I'll even see you over there. You never know what's going to happen," Trump told a U.S. general in Afghanistan after saying that he will see the general when the latter comes back to the United States.
Asked by a reporter later if he looked forward to going to Afghanistan, Trump said, "We'll be doing some interesting things."
Asked if he had a sense of when he will be going, Trump responded, "I do, but I can't tell you."
Currently, the United States has around 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, mainly providing training and advisory service to Afghan security forces, with some others conducting counter-terrorism operations.