Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

John McCain went on a secret trip to northern Syria last week to visit U.S. forces and talk about the campaign to defeat the Islamic State, a spokeswoman from his office confirmed Wednesday.

“Sen. McCain’s visit was a valuable opportunity to assess dynamic conditions on the ground in Syria and Iraq,” a McCain spokeswoman said in a statement. “President Trump has rightly ordered a review of U.S. strategy and plans to defeat ISIL. Senator McCain looks forward to working with the administration and military leaders to optimize our approach for accomplishing ISIL’s lasting defeat.”

The trip, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, was considered official travel but not publicly announced.

It was not clear what day the Arizona senator was in Syria, but he has been traveling internationally since last Thursday.

He gave a speech in Munich, Germany, for the 2017 Munich Security Conference on Friday. McCain, who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee, never mentioned Trump by name but his speech blasted the president and some of his policies.

Photographs from this week also have him placed in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.