Former US President Donald Trump has accused his successor Joe Biden of “surrendering” to the Taliban. With his Afghanistan policy, Biden “destroyed confidence in the power and influence of America,” said Trump on Monday. The consequences of the withdrawal of US troops would have been “completely different” under his administration, Trump claimed.
Trump had initiated the withdrawal of US troops as president through an agreement with the Taliban. If it had been up to Trump, the US soldiers would have left Afghanistan in May. Biden delayed the trigger, but basically stuck to his predecessor’s plan. In the spring he announced that the 2,500 remaining soldiers at the time would leave Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Most recently, the withdrawal date was brought forward to the end of August.
Trump’s former national security advisor, John Bolton, told NPR radio on Monday that he was likely to have acted the same as Biden. Bolton said that the president stuck to the “wrong” policy imposed by Trump. Trump had Bolton kicked out in 2019 because of differences of opinion.
Biden leaves Camp David earlier than planned, where he was planning to spend a long weekend, and returns to the White House. Previously, criticism of his silence since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan had been loud. As recently as Monday morning (local time), Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan only stated in several interviews that the president would “soon” comment on the situation in Afghanistan.
