A retired U.S. Army lieutenant general said Thursday that President Trump's Thanksgiving message to American troops abroad "was somewhat insulting," after Trump told military personnel previous administrations "weren't letting you win before."

"The message that I heard and some of the things he said would have not rung very well with me had I been a deployed soldier," retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling told CNN. "You're talking to soldiers and military personnel around the world who have been in this fight for 17 years, and to suddenly be told they're winning now when they weren't winning before is somewhat insulting."

While Hertling was grateful that Trump addressed servicemen and women through a video conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, he added that deployed troops often don't want to hear about the economy or other domestic issues.

"They want to hear, 'Hey, thanks. Thanks for what you're doing,'" Hertling said.

Earlier, Trump praised representatives of the Marine Corps for their efforts in combatting the Islamic State.

"We're really winning, we know how to win," he said. "But we have to let you win, they weren't letting you win before. They were letting you play even. We're letting you win."

He also used his remarks to remind service members that America's economy was roaring, allowing his government to further invest in the U.S. military.