President Trump is back at the White House following his surprise trip to visit U.S. Troops in Iraq and Germany.

The President returns to the partial government shutdown, which is now in its sixth day.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump returned to the White House before dawn Thursday from their unannounced trip to Iraq.

The President received a warm welcome from troops at Al Asad Air Base West of Baghdad. The Commander in Chief took selfies, signed hats and defended his controversial decision to withdraw U.S. Troops from Syria, saying it’s up to other nations to step up.

“If they want us to do the fighting they also have to pay a price and sometimes that’s also a monetary price,” said President Trump. “So we’re not the suckers of the world. We’re no longer the suckers folks.”

This was the President’s first trip to see U.S. Military personnel in a combat zone. He had been criticized for not visiting sooner. The President also stopped in to say hello to U.S. Troops in Germany on his way home.

Now that the President is back in Washington, he is focusing on the on-going government shutdown. Thursday morning, he called on Democrats to fund his border wall and end the standoff.

The President tweeted, “Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?” In Iraq, the President indicated he isn’t backing down.

The House and Senate are back in session Thursday afternoon but many members are still on vacation and will return only if they’re needed for a vote. That isn’t expected to happen until the President and Democrats reach a deal.

Since the shutdown began, about 420,000 people have been working without pay. Another 380,000 have been furloughed.