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Gov. Bob McDonnell visits with troops in Middle East

The trip includes stops in Kuwait and Afghanistan to meet with soldiers.

Bob McDonnell

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Associated Press

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Gov. Bob McDonnell is visiting troops in Kuwait and Afghanistan, including members of the Virginia National Guard, as part of a trip organized by the Department of Defense.

McDonnell, on his first trip to those nations, is traveling with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and other officials.

McDonnell’s office did not disclose the trip and said Wednesday that officials could not have previously publicly talked about the journey for security reasons.

The announcement about McDonnell’s trip came the day after he issued an apology for “embarrassment” that he and members of his family have brought to Virginia in the wake of a gifts scandal.

The governor announced Tuesday that he repaid more than $120,000 to a wealthy donor for loans made to a business he owns with his sister and to the first lady. That donor, Jonnie Williams, CEO of Star Scientific, has also given the first family thousands of dollars in gifts.

In an interview from his trip, McDonnell told NBC in Washington that there has been no consideration of resigning.

“I’m not going anywhere. I love this job,” he said.

He said in the interview that “I thought it was the right thing to do to make those loan payments back and to begin to heal the trust that might have been broken between me and the people.”

He added: “We’re going to do some other things in the future.”

The AP reported that McDonnell would not discuss gifts in an interview and he said there will be a time for that when he returns.

On Monday morning, McDonnell and Bullock met officials at the Pentagon for pre-trip briefings and then the governors visited Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

At the center, McDonnell met with wounded service members and visited facilities.

The governors left for the Middle East late Monday, arriving Tuesday at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. The delegation then traveled to Udairi Army Air Field, where McDonnell toured the facility and held a town hall meeting with constituents from Virginia, according to McDonnell’s office.

After breakfast with the troops on Wednesday, the governors traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, where McDonnell was briefed on operations and met with troops.

“As an Army veteran, and the father of a daughter who served in the Army in Iraq, it is particularly meaningful to me to have had this opportunity to visit our troops serving in Kuwait and Afghanistan, including members of the Virginia National Guard,” McDonnell said in a statement.

McDonnell is scheduled to return to Virginia on Friday.

Saturday, September 14, 2013