Pence's trip may have been an attempt to smooth over the dismay among Iraqi Kurds over Trump's repositioning of U.S. troops in northeastern Syria, which has left Kurds at the mercy of a Turkish invasion, prompting an outflow of refugees to Iraq.

Iraqi officials in both Baghdad and the Kurdish area have been trying to figure out how to persuade Trump to not abandon Syria completely.

Barzani thanked Pence for the visit and said he hopes the relationship with Trump "will continue to develop further."

Asked if there were a sense of betrayal from the Kurds as a result of Trump's actions, Pence said: "I don’t think there was any confusion now among the leadership here in the Kurdish region of President Trump’s commitment to our allies here in Iraq as well as those in the Syrian Defense Force, the Kurdish forces who fought alongside us. It's unchanging."

Trump was "strongly supportive" of the trip, an administration official said, which came as the president faces an impeachment inquiry that he appears fixated upon. Pence's trip is likely intended to signal to the world that the Trump administration is not ignoring the Middle East despite political troubles at home.

The official also drew a distinction between Iraqi Kurds and Syrian Kurds linked to the factional PKK, which Turkey considers a terrorist group.

The official said Pence was expected to bring up the protests that have roiled Iraq since early October during a call with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, and encouraged the Iraqi government to dissociate itself with Iran.

Heightened tensions across the Middle East have seen popular protests in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran, with young people in particular rising up against corruption in their governments.

In the Trump administration, all the protests are seen as somewhat linked to Iranian activity throughout the region, and aides to the president are trying to take advantage of the moment to encourage movements that could erode Iran's influence.

A Trump administration official said Pence likely avoided Baghdad because of the violence involved with the demonstrations.

“We can’t hug the government too closely when the government is killing protesters,” the administration official said. “A vice presidential visit is a tremendous political hug.”

Fifteen people have died and more than 100 have been wounded during three days of fierce clashes in central Baghdad, according to officials cited by The Associated Press. Iraqi security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters Saturday, killing one person.

Pence, accompanied by his chief of staff, Marc Short; his national security adviser, Keith Kellogg and second lady Karen Pence; departed from Joint Base Andrews on Friday for the 15-hour trip to al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province, according to pool reports.

Upon arriving at 11:27 a.m local time, Pence received a classified briefing and spoke by phone with Abdul-Mahdi, encouraging him to embrace free speech, according to aides.

Pence and the second lady then served Thanksgiving lunch to U.S. troops before thanking them for their service.

“I know it doesn’t beat a home-cooked meal or spending time with your families, but I hope we brought a little bit of home here,” Pence said.

The vice president also called on Congress to step up the pace of military funding.

"The truth is, Congress should have finished their business on defense appropriations months ago," Pence told reporters. "But you all know partisan politics and endless investigations have slowed things down in Washington, D.C."

Trump visited troops at al-Asad Air Base on Dec. 26, 2018, in his first visit to the Persian Gulf nation. Pence visited American troops in Afghanistan in December 2017.