News outlets that published stories about President Trump failing to visit U.S. troops during the holiday season were forced on Wednesday to quickly update their articles.

NBC News, in particular, was skewered Wednesday on Twitter for its untimely Christmas Day piece reporting how Trump became the first president since 2002 not to see service members "at Christmastime." President Trump and first lady Melania Trump, however, left the White House late Tuesday for an unannounced three-hour trip to the joint U.S.-Iraqi al-Asad Air Base, west of Baghdad, the pair's first time in a war zone.



This tweet aged well. — Michael Stam (@Michael_Stam) December 27, 2018



NBC News later updated its work to reflect the presidential travel.

"Editor's note: On Wednesday, a day after this article was published, President Trump made a surprise visit to Iraq to greet U.S. troops," the outlet wrote.

The Hill also changed its original article.



Trump is first president since 2002 to not visit troops around Christmas https://t.co/mvBKkYZRw1 pic.twitter.com/xa1wLI7iKc — The Hill (@thehill) December 26, 2018



"Updated at 2:40 p.m. to reflect Trump's visit to Iraq," the organization said.

Trump's Middle East trip comes after the president had been criticized for not spending time with service members stationed overseas. It also followed his announcement last week that he wants to pull troops from Syria and Afghanistan.