Thomson Reuters
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Trump smiles during the introduction of his DHS nominee Nielsen at the White House in Washington
He spoke with them via conference call from his private club in Palm Beach, Florida. He says they're "very, very special people" to him and everyone else in the country.
Trump tweeted before the call that he'd be speaking to soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq, on the USS Monterey, and in Turkey and Bahrain.
He says everyone has been talking about the progress that has been made in Afghanistan in recent months.
"We opened it up, we said go ahead, we're going to fight to win," Trump said. "We're not fighting anymore to just walk around, we're fighting to win, and you people are really, you've turned it around over the last three to four months like nobody's seen, and they are talking about it, so thank you very much. Brave, incredible fighters."
Trump also touted the progress the military has made against the terrorist group ISIS in the Middle East, which has lost much of its territory in recent months.
"They say we've made more progress against ISIS than they did in years of the previous administration," he said. "And that's because I'm letting you do your job. You're performing more than 1,000 missions over the skies of Iraq and Syria in the last four months."
Trump later pivoted to talk about the progress he's making on the economy.
"We're doing well at home. The economy is doing really great," he said. "When you come back, you are going to see with the jobs and companies coming back into our country and the stock market just hit a record high. Unemployment is the lowest it's been in 17 years. So you're fighting for something real, you're fighting for something good."