Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the American Conservative Union Convention (CPAC) at the Hyatt Regency on Feb. 28, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump issued a statement Sunday (April 18) praising Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, while calling on the current president to complete the withdrawal sooner than 9/11.
President Joe Biden announced last Wednesday (April 14) that U.S. troops would be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks this year.
In his statement, Trump expressed support for the plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan back to their home country. However, he urged Biden to end the longest-running war in U.S. history before 9-11. Trump said withdrawing troops from Afghanistan would be “a wonderful and positive thing. But he previously set a deadline of May 1.
“We should get as close to that timetable (to complete the withdrawal) as possible,” he said. He said.
“I hope Joe Biden doesn’t use Sept. 11 as a date for withdrawal from Afghanistan. For two reasons: first of all, we could and should have withdrawn much sooner. 19 years, enough, is, in fact, too much and too long.” Second, Trump said, 9-11 was too sad and difficult for the United States and “should remain a day of reflection and remembrance to honor those great souls we lost.”
Biden said the withdrawal of U.S. troops began May 1, in accordance with an agreement reached between the Trump administration and the Taliban. Some U.S. troops will stay behind to protect American diplomats, though officials declined to provide a specific number.
Trump’s statement Sunday drew dissent from one of his allies, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R).
Graham is known as a foreign policy hawk. He tweeted Sunday evening, “With all due respect, there is nothing ‘nice’ or ‘positive’ about allowing terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries to re-emerge in Afghanistan, or seeing Afghanistan re-engaged in another civil war ‘ meaning to speak of.”
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told CNN on Sunday that he supports Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. He said the move “completely changes” the situation in the country, the region and the Islamic world. He added that his “full resources” are now focused on operating in this new situation.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan insisted earlier Sunday that U.S. objectives in Afghanistan had been achieved. However, he did not say the U.S. was “winning” the war in Afghanistan. Instead, he told CNN that the U.S. must now focus on the “next 20 years” of the campaign, not the past 20 years.
“The terrorist threat has changed dramatically in the last 20 years.” Sullivan said, “We need to allocate resources so that we can protect the homeland from a variety of threats from different countries and continents, not just Afghanistan.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained Sunday that withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan dovetails with the Biden administration’s goal of focusing on challenges such as the Chinese Communist Party and the epidemic.
“The threat of terrorism has moved elsewhere,” Blinken said, “and we have other very important matters on our agenda, including (dealing with) relations with China, including dealing with everything from climate change to the coronavirus (the Chinese Communist virus). And that’s where we’re going to focus our efforts and resources.”
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