FACT CHECK: Trump Gave Taliban Everything They Wanted, Laid Groundwork for Afghanistan Challenges

FACT: Donald Trump cut a secret deal with the Taliban that freed 5,000 Taliban fighters, sending them back to the battlefield to regain strength – ultimately putting the Taliban in its strongest military position in 20 years and helping lay the groundwork for the challenges during the Afghanistan withdrawal.

• Trump invited the Taliban to Camp David just before the anniversary of 9/11 without involving the Afghan government or America’s international allies.
• After the Camp David scheme fell apart, Trump subsequently cut a deal directly with the Taliban that freed 5,000 imprisoned fighters, allowing them to return to the battlefield to regain strength, and put the Taliban in its strongest military position in 20 years.
• Trump proceeded with talks despite reliable intelligence that the Taliban did not intend to abide by the deal’s terms, and he even acknowledged that they could “possibly” take over the Afghan government after U.S. withdrawal.
• New York Times: “Trump’s Deal With the Taliban Draws Fire From His Former Allies”
• Trump’s deal made major concessions and left the U.S. with only 2,500 troops in Afghanistan when President Biden took office—the smallest force since 2001.
• The deal set timelines for withdrawal and gave permission for the Taliban to attack U.S. troops if the timeline wasn’t met.
• Trump left the Biden-Harris administration with zero plans for an orderly withdrawal—only a dangerous, costly mess. Trump even bragged that the Biden-Harris administration “couldn’t stop the process” he started.
• Trump’s own former national security advisor admits that Trump bears responsibility for the challenges of the withdrawal.

FACT: President Biden did what was necessary to end America’s longest war, and as Vice President Harris has said, it was the right and courageous decision.

• After 20 years, more than $2 trillion, and 800,000 servicemen and women on the ground fighting a war with no end in sight, nearly 2,500 service members dead and over 20,000 wounded, President Biden ended America’s longest war and brought our troops home.
• President Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by Donald Trump.
• The Biden-Harris administration led the largest airlift in U.S. history, evacuating over 120,000 Afghans, U.S. citizens, and Afghan allies.
• The decision to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home has put the United States in a stronger position to address the challenges we face around the world today. And we retain our ability to deal with the terrorist threats we face, as evidenced by our strikes to take out the leaders of al Qaeda and ISIS.